Toward a narrative understanding of suicide

As a unique expression of the human condition, suicide is testament to the complexity of meaning that underpins all human life and action. It is not surprising, then, that it has attracted a great many thinkersscientists, poets and philosophers among themwho have wrestled with its enigma in an attempt to unearth some truth that might explain or help further our understanding of this phenomenon. One result of this interest is that a diverse range of conceptual and theoretical understandings of suicide have been posited, argued and expounded upon over the centuries. Consequently, extant studies of suicide reflect a confusion and vacillation in their articulation of suicidal events. Attitudes toward human freedom, morality, autonomy and rationality, together with diverse perspectives on life and death, indicate that suicide is embedded in networks of meaning, and that changing social and cultural attitudes impact significantly upon our conceptions, and hence, our understandings of suicide.