Citation

Ellis TE. Suicide Life Threat. Behav. 1988; 18(4): 358-371.

Affiliation

Department of Behavioral Medicine and Psychiatry, West Virginia, University Health Sciences Center, Charleston 25326.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1988, American Association of Suicidology, Publisher John Wiley and Sons)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

3064365

Abstract

The many forms of suicidal phenomena, including contemplated, attempted, and completed suicide, present significant problems to both researchers and practitioners. Although many attempts have been made to develop categories, agreement among the proposed systems has been more the exception than the rule. This article reviews theoretical and empirical efforts to define types of suicidal individuals and attempts to integrate them by means of higher-order categories of variables. These categories or "dimensions" are as follows: (1) descriptive, (2) situational, (3) psychological/behavioral, and (4) teleological. Implications for research and practice are discussed.