No One Theory of Suicide: The Experience of a Cancer Patient Who Killed Himself

Abstract

More than a million people worldwide die by suicide annually, and more than 30,000 of them in the United States. Cancer patients are two to four times more likely to die by suicide than the general population. The purpose of this article is to use the results of a phenomenological psychological autopsy to (1) illustrate the interplay of the interpersonal and intrapersonal circumstances of one colon cancer patient’s struggle and ultimate suicide, and (2) demonstrate that health and mental health practitioners need to use more than one theory of suicide to inform their assessment of risk. The findings present a telling picture of the struggles of the decedent, and the authors recommend how the results inform health and mental health practitioners’ practice, policy, and research related to suicide prevention.

Keywords:

• Cancer
• suicide
• case study

Notes

1. The phenomenological perspective focuses on depicting the lived experience of a phenomenon (Moustakas, 1994).