Our topic today is altruistic suicide Broadly speaking, it is the occasion when a person decides to take his or her own life in the name of a sense of social duty.

To understand the subject further, we will clarify Durkheim's theory of suicide, and discuss some clues to help you identify if someone close to you is considering suicide.

What is altruistic suicide?

To begin explaining what altruistic suicide is, we cannot fail to introduce the 4 types of suicide in Émile Durkheim, the great name in sociology responsible for bringing to the field the status of a science .

In summary, his main proposal is built upon the concept of anomie, that is, the way society moves in order to create moments of interruption of the rules that govern its individuals.

Anomie, in this context, is the weakening of the social institution, that is, the set of rules and artifices that preserve the organization of a group of people.

An interesting fact about the creation of the concept is that anomie is a prerogative for Durkheim to explain the social pathologies of modern society, because with time, it has become colder, more rationalistic, and individualistic.

So this is where the theory of the four types of suicide comes in, since they are considered consequences of a pathological aspect, as we will see below.

Understand Émile Durkheim's 4 types of suicide

As we said, For Durkheim, suicide is a social phenomenon that has a pathological aspect This means that, for the sociologist, suicide is a decision that someone makes as a consequence of an illness or dysfunction characteristic of modern societies.

The four types of suicide are:

Selfish

The suicidal person makes the decision to take his own life motivated by an extreme individualism that is typical of today's society, in which societies are defined by a sharp division of labor.

For this reason, selfish suicide is more frequent in modern societies. It is also due to a feeling of exclusion and lack of compatibility that affects the individual.

Anomalous

We explained above that anomie is a term relevant to Durkheim's proposal. This term returns as a mode of suicide as well.

In a situation of social anomie, that is, In the absence of rules in society stemming from social crises such as lack of jobs, for example, individuals may feel the motivation to take their own lives.

Take as an example of an anomalous context moments of advent of social processes such as the modernization resulting from the Industrial Revolution. This represented a substitution of human labor by machines.

You see that from this context arise several problems that can seem fatal to a sick person, such as unemployment and the overexploitation of labor.

Fatalist

Fatalistic suicide, in turn, stems from the over-regulation of society In other words, the individual lives in a society where excessive rules and norms make life much more difficult to cope with.

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Selfless

Finally, we have the type of suicide that is the focus of our article: altruistic suicide. This type stems from obedience to the coercive force of the collective.

In other words, the individual has such an extreme involvement with society that he or she suffers from an absence of self-worth.

It is as if the person does not see himself, and in cases where he sees the need, taking his own life is a kind of duty to the society in which he is inserted.

Types of altruistic suicide

A curiosity about altruistic suicide is that it has three subtypes of its own. In all cases, Taking one's own life is a social duty, that is, the person believes that suicide is a form of positive contribution to the society and culture in which he or she lives.

However, the motivations are different. Check out a brief explanation of each one below.

Compulsory

In compulsory altruistic suicide, society demands suicide from the individual in a certain way because little or no alternative to it would be honorable. Therefore, the motivation is honor.

It is worth noting that for this modality the frequency is higher in Asian countries, the greatest examples being the Japanese kamikaze soldiers in World War II and the samurai who participated in "Sepukku" or "Haraquiri," a Japanese ritualistic suicide.

Optional

In this case, suicide does not occur because of declared social pressures, but because the person feels that he has already fulfilled his obligations in life Therefore, the feeling that the individual starts to nurture is that he is a burden to society.

Acute

In turn, in acute altruistic suicide, the person takes his life for pleasure, with conviction in his own beliefs in the name of a religion for example.

A clear example of this type of suicide was the Jonestown mass suicide, committed by 918 members of the People's Temple sect, led by pastor Jim Jones .

Another classic example is the suicide attacks by the Islamic State and the Taliban, mainly in countries like Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Indications that someone close to you may be thinking about altruistic suicide

In general, the indications that a person is thinking about altruistic suicide are similar to those of the other types. However, the motivation is not easily identifiable with a mental illness or disorder such as depression, borderline personality disorder, and bipolar disorder.

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However, it is critical to start paying attention if the following symptoms appear and become frequent:

Verbal Statements

First, if an individual begins to verbally express the desire or possibility of suicide, do not ignore this symptom.

Behaviors that indicate a lack of appreciation for life

Habits that are strange to one's everyday life such as oversleeping and eating too much or too little are also worthy of attention.

In addition to these, look to see if the person in question has been sloppy with their appearance and hygiene, failing to bathe, brush their teeth, and comb their hair.

A behavior that also fits this symptom is the habit of uttering words that suggest a lack of appreciation for oneself.

Insulation

Isolation starts to become a matter of suspicion when the person begins to miss activities that he or she performs, such as school, college, or work.

Aggressiveness

Also consider both verbal and nonverbal aggressive behavior.

Involvement with religious sects where suicide is not a taboo

Finally, consider carefully the involvement of the individual with social organizations of dubious origin and quality.

Final considerations on altruistic suicide

In today's article, you learned about altruistic suicide and how Émile Durkheim built a proposal about pathologies with a background in sociology.

If our content about the altruistic suicide Also, don't forget: in our 100% online clinical psychoanalysis course you will get the professional certificate to practice as a psychoanalyst, you can use the knowledge acquired in your personal life and/or in your current profession.