scholarly journals Suicide in Homer and the Tale of the Heike

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 72-94
Author(s):  
Naoko Yamagata
Keyword(s):  

Abstract Comparison of suicides and suicidal wishes in Homer and the Tale of the Heike reveals significant similarities. In both worlds, shame, loyalty, and grief are the main causes of suicidal wishes. However, Heike characters are more prone to suicide, while Homeric characters never actually commit suicide. Heike suicides can be seen to derive from the desire to be with one’s community and loved ones, enhanced by the Buddhist belief in an afterlife. Homeric characters display much stronger attachment to life, based on the belief that there is no existence or fame after death worth dying for.

2016 ◽  
Vol 5 (11) ◽  
pp. 5041
Author(s):  
Farkhondeh Jamshidi ◽  
Ahmad Ghorbani ◽  
Sina Darvishi*

The abuse of some pesticides especially to suicide is one of the current problems of pesticides. Aluminum phosphide induced poisoning usually happens to suicide and sometimes it is due to accidental occupational exposure and in a few cases it has some criminal intensions. This study is conducted to evaluate patients poisoned with aluminum phosphide. In the present study the medical records of cases of poisoning with rice tablets (aluminum phosphide) hospitalized in Ahvaz Razi hospital is studied. Accordingly, a checklist is prepared that included demographic information of patients (age, gender) and information on patient records (information on poisoning) are completed using the patients’ medical records. The analysis of data is done by SPSS V22. 18 patients poisoned with rice tablet (aluminum phosphide) are studied. Results of the study show that 11 patients are male and seven are female. The mean patient age is 27.06 ±8.04 years that is 28 ±9 and 25 ±6.02 in men and women respectively. Statistical tests show no statistically significant difference in mean age in both genders (P> 0.05). Among patients, 11 subjects took aluminum phosphide to attempt suicide and 3 cases took it unintentionally and of course the reason is not mentioned in four cases. Among the patients who tried to commit suicide by taking aluminum phosphide, 6 cases are male and 5 cases are female that no statistically significant difference is observed between the genders in this respect (P> 0.05). In addition to the study of the complications caused by this poisoning and its mortality, it is recommended to responsible authorities to provide the necessary educations and treatments to prevent this type of poisoning.


Author(s):  
Ralf Stoecker

Advocates of legalization of physician-assisted suicide usually argue that it is as matter of respect for human dignity that people get help in ending their lives (1) because the prohibition interferes with a fundamental liberty to conduct life according to one’s own preferences and (2) because sometimes suicide is an appropriate measure to avoid living an undignified life. In this chapter, it is argued that although the first argument is strong, the second argument is misguided. Hence, from an ethical perspective, society should not legally prohibit physician-assisted suicide. Yet, the person him- or herself should not commit suicide either. In particularly, the person should not regard such a suicide as a demand of his or her dignity.


2020 ◽  
pp. 088626052098325
Author(s):  
Jorge Santos-Hermoso ◽  
José Luis González-Álvarez ◽  
Ángel García-Collantes ◽  
Miguel Ángel Alcázar-Córcoles

The phenomenon of homicide followed by suicide (HS) has a low prevalence worldwide, although the literature has identified that these cases represent a significant percentage in homicide subtypes such as intimate partner homicide or filicide. In the present study, HS ( n = 41) and homicides in which the perpetrator did not commit suicide after the event ( n = 556) are compared. The information was extracted from police reports of homicides committed in Spain between 2010 and 2012 and belonging to the jurisdictions of the National Police and Civil Guard. The results showed that out of the total number of homicides analyzed, HS accounted for 4.9%, which implies a rate of 0.05 per 100,000 inhabitants. The findings of the study show that the profile of a HS victim of a 52-year-old Spanish woman. The perpetrator is of Spanish origin, 50 years old, unemployed, or retired, with a mental disorder, and with substance use being common at the time of the event. HS events take place at the perpetrator’s home, are related to interpersonal conflicts, involve a single perpetrator, several victims, and are mainly committed with a firearm. The findings are mostly consistent with previous studies and the prevalence of HS in the couple setting is highlighted (56.5%). However, the importance of studying cases outside of this setting is emphasized since it has been found that 30.5% of cases involve other family relationships and 13% occurred outside the domestic sphere.


2020 ◽  
Vol 48 (12) ◽  
pp. 030006052097739
Author(s):  
Yiming Tao ◽  
Tingting Liu ◽  
Jie Han ◽  
Xiangdong Jian ◽  
Baotian Kan

Patients who commit suicide often deliberately hide their medical history. Given that taking pesticides is one of the most common methods of suicide, other forms of poisoning may be neglected in clinical practice. We report here a case of mixed-pesticide poisoning. The patient was poisoned by oral administration of a coumarin rodenticide in combination with an intramuscular injection of organophosphorus (OP) pesticide. The patient was treated with vitamin K1, cholinesterase reactivators, atropine, ventilator-assisted ventilation, and bedside debridement. Her condition gradually stabilized and she eventually recovered and was discharged. Assessment of the causes of delayed diagnosis and treatment suggests that we need to improve early detection and treatment of acute poisoning. It is especially important to ask about the patient’s medical history, conduct a careful physical examination, and track the clinical symptoms and differential diagnosis of common poisoning. In addition to the three common routes of poisoning—oral, inhalation, and cutaneous mucosal contact—intramuscular injection of OP can also lead to severe poisoning, which manifests as respiratory failure.


2003 ◽  
Vol 33 (2) ◽  
pp. 126-132 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. N. Madu ◽  
M. P. Matla

The aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence of suicidal behaviours among secondary school adolescents in the Limpopo Province. The participants in this study were 435 secondary school adolescents from Polokwane and surrounds. Two hundred and forty-three (56%) participants were female, and 192 (44%) were male. They were aged between 15 and 19 years, with a mean age of 17.25 years ( SD = 1.34). A questionnaire was used to record participants' demographic data and suicidal behaviours, including suicidal thoughts and threats, plans, and attempts to commit suicide). Thirty-seven percent of the secondary school adolescents surveyed indicated having thought of taking their own lives; 17% had made threats or informed others about their suicidal intentions; 16% had made plans to take their own lives but did not carry them through; 21% reported having attempted to take their own lives. These results indicate that a higher percentage of males than females had attempted suicide. The most frequent method used for attempting suicide was self-poisoning (44% of the attempters), followed by drug overdoses (25.3%), hanging (22%), self-stabbing (2.2%), and other methods, such as, jumping from heights, starvation, and drug abuse (6.6%).


Ecology ◽  
1997 ◽  
Vol 78 (6) ◽  
pp. 1934
Author(s):  
William Z. Lidicker ◽  
Dennis Chitty
Keyword(s):  

1965 ◽  
Vol 3 (11) ◽  
pp. 41-43

In diagnosing depression, the most important maxim is to remember its existence. Depression may present overtly or covertly; it may be associated with suicide, alcoholism, or addiction to amphetamines. Perhaps half the depressions seen in general practice require specific treatment, of which a quarter may need referral to a psychiatrist or a psychiatric hospital. If left untreated about 1 in 7 severe depressives die, commit suicide, or become chronic invalids. About these observations there is general agreement. Unfortunately, views about treatment are more diverse, and it is impossible to discuss all of them in a short article, especially if the conclusions are to be firm enough for general use. What follows, therefore, does not represent a consensus of psychiatric opinion, for this does not exist. It is an account of a consistent approach to therapy well supported by experimental evidence and found useful in practice.


1992 ◽  
Vol 25 (2) ◽  
pp. 109-126 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ernest Shulman

The famous Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen died of natural causes in old age. Ibsen's life and his creative work strongly suggest suicidal tendencies never manifested in his behavior. Various factors in his personality are examined and contrasted with aspects of Ernest Hemingway, who did commit suicide. Although both men tended to move around through most of their lives, and to reject close emotional ties, Ibsen can be seen to be less compulsively self-sufficient. Although Ibsen's plays indicate an acceptance of suicide as a reasonable solution to difficult problems, the author maintained his stability; partly through keeping to a high level of creative quality, and partly through continuous dependence on his only wife. Since a suicide outcome is generally unpredictable, the study of lives such as Ibsen's may reveal factors of resiliency in suicidally-inclined people, and thereby reduce the unpredictability.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document