The increasing prevalence of suicide makes it a subject of general interest. The study of pronounced cases has thrown certain unconscious processes into clear relief where they can be worked out in detail. Those processes which become pronounced in extreme cases have been found to be operative in all persons, but in a less conspicuous manner. In regard to our general psychology suicide does this thing. It shows us clearly in what some of the unconscious factors in our own struggles consist. We all struggle with our rudimentary wishes, not the least of which are the avoidance of life and many of its hard realities, not to mention some of the self-realizations which we would avoid even at the price of death, either for ourselves or another. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2006 APA, all rights reserved)