A taxonomy of suicide

Objective: Suicide has been known in all peoples, in all countries across time. We are just emerging from a two-century era in which the official dogma was that all suicide was the result of mental disorder. The aim of this paper is to conduct a broad review and construct a taxonomy of suicide which will increase our understanding of the pathways to suicide, which will in turn assist in management of suicide.

Method: We reviewed much clinical, psychological, sociological, philosophical and theological material. We constructed a taxonomy (a constellation of categories) and reviewed public records for accounts of suicide. We attempted to fit the public record cases to the taxonomy to test its legitimacy.

Results: The public record cases fitted our taxonomy, establishing its legitimacy. Nine categories were identified, two featured mental disorder (1, psychosis; 2, non-psychotic mental disorder), and five featured precise loss (3, partner/family members; 4, fortune/assets; 5, status/reputation; 6, freedom; 7, physical health). In addition, one category (8) featured generalized loss/tedium vitae, and one (9) featured unexplained suicide.

Conclusion: A taxonomy of suicide is presented which finally discredits the claim that all suicide is the consequence of mental disorder and assists in understanding and hopefully the management of suicide.