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Attempted Suicide as Language: An Empirical Study

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 January 2018

Norman Kreitman ,
Peter Smith  and
Eng-Seong Tan
Norman Kreitman
Affiliation:
Medical Research Council Unit for Epidemiological Studies in Psychiatry, University Department of Psychiatry, Morningside Park, Edinburgh, 10
Peter Smith
Affiliation:
Medical Research Council Clinical and Population Cytogenetics Research Unit, Western General Hospital, Crewe Road, Edinburgh, 4
Eng-Seong Tan
Affiliation:
Department of Psychological Medicine, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
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Extract

It is widely accepted by clinicians that many so-called suicidal attempts' function as a form of communication between the patient and the key figures in his environment, most often conveying an appeal for attention (Stengel et al., 1959, Farberow and Shneidman 1961). Yet little rigorous research has been directed to the communicational aspect of attempted suicide, possibly because the concept of communication is itself complex and difficult to define operationally. One line of enquiry has been to examine the consequences of the act for the patient, his family, and friends (McCulloch 1965). The present study, on the other hand, focuses particularly on attempted suicide as a subcultural phenomenon.

Type
Research Article
Information
The British Journal of Psychiatry , Volume 116 , Issue 534 , May 1970 , pp. 465 - 473
Copyright
Copyright © Royal College of Psychiatrists, 1970 

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References

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