Suicide and sensibility

Abstract

Suicide is a domain of darkness. Entrenched in the biomedical world, suicide is commonly addressed as a complication of mental illness—usually depression—regardless of historic and social contexts, factors critical in Australian Aboriginal suicide. Prevention programs disappoint, partly because they don’t differentiate between suicide categories in their strategies. Furthermore, statistics are unreliable, and underreporting remains idiosyncratic despite improved coronial practices. Unhelpfully, coroners may not presume suicide. Critical suicidology is addressing the “science” of suicide, its social significance, the contextual factors, and the reporting problems; it also proposes a sensible rethinking of attitudes toward, and education about, this taboo-laden topic.