Citation

Lester D. Suicide Stud. 2020; 1(1): 84-86.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2020, David Lester)

DOI

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PMID

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Abstract

Substance abuse is sometimes viewed as a self-destructive, even suicidal behavior. For example, Karl Menninger (1938) called substance abuse chronic suicide, implying that it was a manifestation of the death instinct in which the individual kills himself over a drawn-out period of time. Others have argued that suicide and substance abuse may be expressions of the same underlying variable, perhaps a social variable such as social disorganization or an intrapsychic variable such as a self-destructive personality.

Whatever the theoretical relationship between suicide and substance abuse, substance abusers do have a higher incidence of suicidal behavior than non-abusers. Here too many causal chains can be proposed. Perhaps the psychological state that leads a person to contemplate and act-out suicidal ideas is similar to that which leads people to use alcohol and drugs? Or perhaps the use of alcohol and drugs disrupts a person's life to such an extent that suicide becomes a more viable option?....

Language: en