The forces of magnetic attraction between minds

Suicide Attraction 2

(1)suicide and Psychological conditions

There are two types of non-social causes to which we can initially attribute an influence on the suicide rate, which are the organic-psychological conditions and the nature of the physical environment. It may happen that within the individual structure, or at least, within the structure of a large group of individuals, there is a tendency of varying intensity depending on the country, which leads a person directly to suicide. On the other hand, it may be due to climate and temperature. . . Etc., in the way they affect the organic structure, the effects themselves, indirectly. In any case, this hypothesis cannot be set aside without discussion. We will then examine, one by one, these two types of factors, and investigate whether they have, in fact, some influence on the phenomenon we are about to study, and what it is.

This installment.

There are diseases whose annual rate is relatively constant for! To a specific society, while it changes visibly enough according to societies, so is madness. If it is correct, then, that we see signs of it in every voluntary death, then the dilemma we posed becomes solved. Because suicide will only be an individual scourge (1).

This is the thesis supported by a fair number of psychiatrists. According to Esquirol: “Suicide shows all the characteristics of a mental disorder”.. . He adds: “A person does not attempt suicide except when he becomes delirious, so those who commit suicide are mentally disturbed”.. Based on this, Esquirol concluded that suicide, being involuntary, does not require punishment from the law. Valeret.. , Moreau and Tour expressed their opinions in this regard, in almost the same terms. In fact, in the same passage in which he presented the doctrine he embraces, Tour made a sufficient observation to place this doctrine in doubt. “Should suicide in all cases be viewed as a result of a mental disorder?” says Tour. Tour adds: Without wanting a definitive answer here to this thorny question, let us say, as a general thesis, that we instinctively tend toward the positive the more deeply we study madness, the more experience we gain, and the more we finally deal with a larger number of mentally ill people. In 1845, Dr. Bordin had supported the same opinion, also in a less moderate tone, in a pamphlet that, upon its appearance, caused a stir in the medical world.

This theory can be defended, and it has been defended, in two ways: either it can be said that suicide, in and of itself, constitutes a unique pathological essence, a special insanity, or it can be viewed simply as a symptom of one or several types of insanity, without making it a distinct type. But it does not occur in healthy-minded people. The first thesis is that of Bourdin, while Esquirol, on the contrary, is the most powerful and influential representative of the other conception. Esquirol says, “We infer from the above that suicide is nothing but a phenomenon resulting from a large number of different causes, such that it appears with completely different characteristics.” This phenomenon cannot distinguish one disease from any other, and in order to make suicide a special disease, general assumptions were put forward that are refuted by experience (1).

Of these two ways of proving the insane nature of suicide, we find that the second method is the least coherent and the least convincing, in accordance with the principle that states that there can be no negative experience and in fact, it is impossible to make a complete inventory of all suicide cases and show the effect of mental disorder. within each case. It is only possible to cite specific examples, which, no matter how numerous they may be, cannot serve as a basis for a scientific generalization, and even if contradictory examples are not mentioned, there will always be some that are likely to happen, but if evidence of the other scenario can be provided, it will be conclusive. If we prove that suicide is insanity, with its own characteristics and distinct development, then the problem arises

It becomes solved. Every suicide seems crazy.

But is there suicidal madness?

The tendency to commit suicide is, by nature, private and specific. If it constitutes a kind of insanity, it can only be partial insanity and limited to one single act. In order for this madness to be distinguished as delirium, this delirium must be based on this single topic, because if it is based on multiple topics, there will be no reason to define it with one of them instead of the other. According to the traditional terminology of mental demand, specific deliriums are called monomania. Monomania is a disease in which the patient's consciousness is completely intact except in one respect: he only shows a clearly definite premonition. He sometimes shows, for example, a wild and irrational desire to drink, steal, or curse. But all his other actions, as well as all his other thoughts, are very correct. If there is suicidal insanity, then it can only be monomania, and we mostly describe it as such.