Can Shneidman's "Ten Commonalities of Suicide" Accommodate Rational Suicide?

Shneidman's (1985) commonly reproduced “Ten Commonalities of Suicide” cannot accommodate rational suicide, as the concept has been defined in recent literature, and therefore are not “commonalities” of all suicides. Quotes from Shneidman describing the “commonalities” are provided and selected...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Suicide & life-threatening behavior 1996, Vol.26 (3), p.292-299
Main Author: Werth Jr, James L.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adult and adolescent clinical studies
Attitude of Health Personnel
Biological and medical sciences
Classification
Cognitive Structures
Decision Making
Definitions
Humans
Logic
Medical sciences
Mental Health
National Surveys
Psychological Patterns
Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry
Psychopathology. Psychiatry
Psychotherapy
Quotations
Rationality
Research Needs
Self Injurious Behavior
Shneidman, Edwin
Social research
Stereotyping
Suicide
Suicide - psychology
Suicides & suicide attempts
Terminal Illness
Terminally Ill - psychology
Terminology as Topic
Theoretical Problems
Vocabulary
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Summary:Shneidman's (1985) commonly reproduced “Ten Commonalities of Suicide” cannot accommodate rational suicide, as the concept has been defined in recent literature, and therefore are not “commonalities” of all suicides. Quotes from Shneidman describing the “commonalities” are provided and selected items are briefly examined in light of one set of criteria for rational suicide. It is suggested that Shneidman's list, which is inherently biased against allowing for the possibility of rational suicide, be renamed so that its contents will not continue to be inappropriately used as evidence that suicide cannot be rational.
ISSN:0363-0234
1943-278X
DOI:10.1111/j.1943-278X.1996.tb00614.x