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This page concerns methods of committing suicide. For resources for those seeking help averting suicidal thoughts, see Crisis hotline, or the Befrienders Worldwide (external link).

Suicide methods are the different methods people have chosen to commit suicide.

Burning oneself (self-immolation)

Often practiced as a form of protest against a government, it is a painful way to die. It takes a few minutes for the body to burn to death. If done publicly, the person might be stopped by people nearby; however, fire greatly damages the body before actually killing it. A flammable substance (a material that is easily burned, such as gasoline) is frequently used to make the death quicker. If such a catalyst is used, there is almost no possibility of averting death.

Car "accident"

Suicide by deliberately driving a car into something. The consequences greatly depend on the type of car used, what it crashed into, and speed at the time of the crash. Other types of transport are also used for this type of suicide (e.g., planes).

Driving a car into water is covered in the section on Drowning.

Drowning

Suicide by drowning is deliberately getting into water and staying there long enough for it to fill the breathing channels. This might be done by walking into water, usually having attached heavy objects to the body to make it impossible to get out. It is also done by driving into water or getting off a ship or boat. This method risks permanent brain damage if rescue arrives after the brain has been deprived of oxygen for several minutes.

If a car is driven into water, it will usually stay afloat for quite some time before sinking. After submerging, the pressure outside the car will be greater than the pressure inside, preventing its occupants from opening the doors until the interior fills with water and the pressure has equalized.

Suicide by drowning could also be done by jumping from a bridge; see the section on Jumping.

Electrocution

Suicide by electricity. The flow of electricity through the body has a potential to seriously disrupt nerve signals, which will cause death if the electric current is strong enough and affects a sufficiently large area of the body.

Water is often involved, as water is a good conductor of electricity. A common method is to sit in a bathtub full of water and throw in an electrical device that is plugged into an outlet. Fuses installed in the electrical device can potentially thwart this method when a short-circuit occurs.

Hanging

Hanging is typically performed in the one of the following three ways:

1. Drop hanging. Attaching a rope around the neck and tying the other end to some fixed object, a person jumps or drops themselves from a height with the aim of breaking the neck.

2. Vertical position. A person strangles themself using their own weight. It typically takes more time than the previous method. It is usually performed by standing on an easily movable object such as a chair, putting a rope around one's neck and attaching the other end to a fixed object above one's head, and then kicking the object away.

3. Horizontal position. This is usually done when conditions do not allow for other means. The person puts a rope around their neck and attaches the other end to something that sticks out (e.g., a doorknob or water tap) and then uses their own force to push away from it, or establishes themself in a position where common forces (such as gravity) can assist. Due to this prolonged asphyxiation, blood may pool in the eyes before death.

Jumping

Usually done by jumping from a tall building or from a bridge. If a person jumps from a bridge into water, it is possible that the person dies by drowning rather than by impact; this is especially the case if the bridge lies low over the water. People attempting this method sometimes attach stones or other weights to themselves or tie their hands and legs beforehand to make it impossible to swim to safety should they panic.

Jumping off the stern of a ship

This method entails jumping off the stern of ship into cold water and ultimately drowning. The chances of rescue are minimal since hypothermia sets in rapidly; it is also difficult to turn a ship around in time for any serious rescue attempt to be made. This method has been reported to occur on cruise ships, cross-channel ferries and on so-called "love-boats", having a broken relationship be the reason for such a decision.

Jumping under a train, tram or car

As for the damage done, this type of suicide is similar to jumping: whereas jumping depends on the height involved and type of landing, here it depends on the speed and type of the vehicle. If the person is struck by a vehicle, the damage will be much less than if they go under the vehicle's wheels, where the chance of sustaining lethal injuries is high; however it is possible that just an arm or a leg would get under the wheels, in which case the person may survive handicapped.

In the case of trains, suicidal individuals frequently just lie on the railroad rather than jumping in front of the train as this requires less willpower. Unlike automobiles, trains cannot be stopped quickly, so even if an engineer notices someone on the tracks it may be too late. The chance of being spotted can be decreased by doing this at night.

Lethal injection

Injection of a harmful chemical substance, drug or air into the bloodstream. The injection of sufficient air into a vein causes embolism and acute heart failure. The symptoms or outcome of drugs or other substances injected into the bloodstream may vary, depending on the substance involved and quantity injected. This method is not always effective or lethal.

Overdosing

This method involves taking a large dose of medication, usually sleeping pills, antidepressants or painkillers. However, due to the unpredictablity of dosing requirements, death is not certain and an attempt may leave a person alive but with severe organ damage. Drugs taken orally may also be vomited back up before they have a chance to be absorbed. Overdosing may also be performed by mixing medications with one another or with alcohol or illegal drugs. This method may leave confusion over whether the death was a suicide or accidental.

Painkiller overdoses are among the most unpleasant things for medical personnel to deal with. Often these are teenagers taking over-the-counter medicines such as paracetamol in a 'cry for help', believing that these everyday drugs will not cause too much damage. Paracetamol overdoses cause liver failure over a period of days, so it is common for people to regret their choice in hospital when it is too late to do anything about it: there is currently no medical treatment for liver failure except a liver transplant. People who overdose on paracetamol may have no serious adverse symptoms for days afterwards; the effect of a paracetamol overdose can be reversed if medical treatment is sought within a few hours of taking the drug.

Plastic bag method

A large plastic bag (e.g. a refuse bag) is used for this method, often combined with sleep-inducing drugs, a near overdose or other ingredients such as bicycle glue rubbed under the nostrils. The glue is thus inhaled and causes hallucinations or drowsiness. The plastic bag is fastened tightly around the neck with a strap or rope. Unconsciousness or sleep rapidly sets in as a result of lack of oxygen to the brain and the use of drugs (e.g. sleeping tablets). Since the combined used of drugs often results in a deep sleep or unconsciousness, the person then eventually suffocates during sleep without being aware of this. This method is generally lethal since the person has no further control over his or her will after becoming unconscious or falling asleep.

If the onset of unconciousness is not rapid, carbon dioxide build-up in the bag will cause rapid, shallow breathing sometimes known as "air hunger". To avoid this, some people use an inert gas, such as a tank of nitrogen or helium to purge the bag of oxygen and minimize the build-up of carbon dioxide.

Poisoning

Use of known poisons. Effectively the same as overdosing; however, the chance of success is higher though the dosage required still varies from person to person. Because of the low accessibility of poisons to the general public, this was traditionally used by people in power, such as politicians or military leaders.

Seppuku

Japanese ritual method of suicide, practiced mostly in the medieval era, though some isolated cases appear in modern times. The most widely-known part of seppuku in western society is probably the slashing of the stomach; however, the ritual is far more complex than that. Dressed ceremonially, with his sword placed in front of him and sometimes seated on special cloths, the warrior would prepare for death by writing a death poem. With a selected attendant (kaishakunin, his second) standing by, he would open his kimono, take up his wakizashi (short sword), fan, or a tanto (knife) and plunge it into his abdomen, making first a left-to-right cut and then a second slightly upward stroke. On the second stroke, the kaishakunin would perform daki-kubi, a ritual in which the warrior is all but decapitated (a slight band of flesh is left attaching the head to the body). In the case that a fan is used (usually when the person is very young or particularly evil) the kaishakunin would perform the daki-kubi the moment the fan touched the person's stomach.

Shooting

Using a firearm on oneself. Used more frequently in countries where firearms are easier to obtain. It is debatable, however, if that increases the number of suicides in general; it might be that it just increases the number of people choosing this method. In countries where firearms are harder to obtain, this method is sometimes still used, especially by people who use firearms in their work (e.g., soldiers or policemen).

The lethality of the method depends on where the shot is aimed, usually the side of forehead or the mouth (both ways ultimately aimed at the brain). In some cases the heart is chosen as a target, but it is harder to aim correctly. A shot to the stomach will cause a slower death, which will be caused through blood loss rather than organ trauma. Brain or heart damage kills a person more quickly; however, the gun must be powerful enough for that to succeed.

Slashing throat

Cutting through the throat. Here, death is caused by blood loss or blood clogging the trachea. It was also practiced as a ritual suicide method in Japan, used by noble women for the same purposes as seppuku was used by men. This method cuts the major artery which leads to the brain and it should take no longer than few minutes to lose enough blood for the wound to be fatal. It is almost impossible for someone to stop the person from dying, especially if it is done alone.

Slashing wrists

Cutting through the wrists until the main veins are reached. People choosing this method die because of blood loss. This method is also frequently used as self-harm or a cry for help because it is not an immediately lethal method; therefore, not all people who slash their wrists intend suicide.

The best chance of death is achieved by slashing the wrist along the vein, rather than across it, as a larger part of vein's surface is cut through. Slashing wrists may damage tendons which could cause partial loss of the suicide's ability to control their hand. Usually, razor blades are used as they are less painful than knives.

Starving to death

This type of suicide, known as Sallekhana to Hindus and Jains is considered as the only legitimate suicide method, as it cannot be done impulsively and the person spends the time beforehand detaching themselves from the world, in meditation.

It takes a long time and is rare in western society. Also, when a person collapses due to starvation, it is still possible in most cases to save them by injecting nutrients intravenously.

Suffocation

Suffocation is done by inhaling enough of a gas which disrupts the body, usually through failure of the respiratory system. In most cases carbon monoxide (CO) is used for this, as it is easily available as a product of combustion; for example, it is released by cars and some types of heaters. Carbon monoxide is colourless and odourless, so breathing it is almost unnoticeable. However, CO molecules attach themselves to hemoglobin in the blood, displacing oxygen molecules and denying sufficient oxygen levels to the body, eventually resulting in death. It is usually done by starting a car's engine (or using other CO-producing devices, like small coal ovens) in a closed space such as a garage and remaining there. This method is frequently used for group suicides as it allows members of the group to die at about the same time. How long it takes depends upon the size of the closed space and the amount of CO produced. .

There was a euthanasia device invented on this principle where a person using it would have to breathe out of it a few times and then could die.

Suicide by cop

The practice rates for suicide by cop have increased over the years. It entails the act of someone purposefully behaving as if they would be dangerous in front of a law enforcement officer or other armed officer so that the officer would use their weapons to kill. Sometimes people use toy weapons and appear as if they are a threat. Usually this is done by people who have no willpower to kill themselves by any other method, or because they do not want to kill themselves with their own hands for other reasons.

Further reading

• Stone, Geo: Suicide and Attempted Suicide. New York: Carroll & Graf, 2001. ISBN 0-7867-0940-5

• Pages for deletion
• Ethics
• Suicide