Citation

Lester D. Suicide Stud. 2023; 4(4): 2-13.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2023, David Lester)

DOI

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PMID

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Abstract

The purpose of this essay is to review the field of what is known as suicidology in order to explore what we have learned about why people die by suicide. This review is going to be harsh, not in terms of criticizing what researchers and theorists have written, but rather by omitting citations to those who have become well-known in the field, past and present.

I reviewed the research and theory on suicidal behavior from 1897 to 1997 in four books which I titled Why People Kill Themselves. Those books did not, however, critique the papers cited. The aim was to provide for those in the field a convenient reference to what had been published in those years. I did choose the outstanding contributors in the 3rd and 4th editions of the book, but many of those chosen there are not cited here. They did publish a large number of articles on one issue in the field, thereby stimulating others, but their contributions do not necessarily assist our understanding of suicidal behavior.

This review will also focus on why people die by suicide and not people who attempt suicide but survive.

Language: en