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Concept information

Preferred term

altruistic suicide  

Definition(s)

  • In modern medicine, suicide is largely understood as an outcome of depression, an act resulting from a trajectory of mental illness spiraling downward into that profound hopelessness from which the victim cannot recover: Killing oneself comes to be seen by the victim as the only way to relieve intense psychic pain, or the only way out of an intolerable situation. The final act of suicide can sometimes be delayed or prevented by the use of psychotherapy, drugs, and/or emergency hospitalization; long-term prevention strategies for repeat episodes of suicidality include treatment of the underlying illness and continuing surveillance for warning signals of self-destruction. [Source: Encyclopedia of Death and the Human Experience; Altruistic Suicide]

Broader concept(s)

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URI

http://data.loterre.fr/ark:/67375/N9J-MFZXT6DX-R

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