Citation

Leenaars AA. Suicide Life Threat. Behav. 1997; 27(1): 15-27.

Affiliation

University of Leiden.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1997, American Association of Suicidology, Publisher John Wiley and Sons)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

9112719

Abstract

A small but concerning percentage of completed suicides are seen as having left no clues. The classical case, albeit a literary one, is Robinson's Richard Cory. These people often dissemble, even about their suicide risk. An even smaller group of these individuals present themselves in therapy without communicating a sign of suicide risk. Utilizing an idiographic approach, the case of a young adult male (Rick) is presented. The narrative reconstruction gives voice behind the man's mask. The autopsy reveals a young man who was in deep pain and unable to adjust to life's demands. Rick lacked ego strength, being overly narcissistic and having deeply troubled, symbiotic attachments to his family in a world of interpersonal isolation. In the end, even the help of his therapist, who tried to reach through the mask, was not enough and Rick killed himself. The pain had become unbearable. A few guiding remarks for such cases are offered, noting that therapists must constantly address the dissembling in some suicidal patients.