A Phenomenological Study of Suicide Notes

The author has attempted to categorize a set of suicide notes according to their formal aspects. The perspective adopted is that of the actor, what he must experience, how he must view these experiences, the social constraints restraining him from suicide, how he succeeds in overcoming them, and finally, the precautions he takes to prevent the recurrence of a similar set of circumstances after his death. The paper is based primarily on an analysis of 112 suicide notes of persons who succeeded in suicide in the Los Angeles area. Insights gained by the author through his work with adolescent suicide attempters and their parents also aided in the formulation.