Extended suicide: what is it, how does it occur and why does it create controversy?

Let's see what are the characteristics of extended suicide and why it generates debate.

The concept of extended suicideThe concept of extended suicide, following several unfortunate events in recent years, has become well known. It is the act of first murdering a loved one and then committing suicide.

Next we are going to define more in depth what this expression is about, what diagnostic criteria experts in the subject use to delimit when it is a case of extended suicide, risk factors and comment on why it is an expression with controversy.

What is extended suicide?

The extended suicide is a tragic event in which the individual first ends the life of a loved one, usually a son or daughter, and then commits suicide.. The victim of the person who will end up committing suicide is usually a person who is dear to him, and considers that, far from being snatching the future, he is saving her from an adverse future.

In this type of homicide it is not that the mother, or the father in certain situations, hates her children or other close ones, or has behaved in a largely negligent manner towards them. We are not talking about a case in which the homicidal-suicidal person has previously committed maltreatment. Suicide does not occur as an act of repentance for the murder of the loved one, but rather coincides with the murder of the loved one.The suicide does not occur as an act of repentance for the murder of the loved one, but coincides in time. First he/she makes sure to take his/her life and then takes it himself/herself.

Usually, the person who commits this act is deeply depressed, having a very pessimistic idea of how the future will go for him/her and his/her loved ones. Because of this thought pattern, and considering that there is no way out of the impasse in which he or she believes to be, the mother or father decides, as an act that he or she understands as altruistic, to end the life of his or her child and then to end his or her own.

The way in which the life of the child or loved one is ended is usually, more or less quickly and, in most cases, as painless as possible, as painless as possible.. The homicidal person tries to spare his child all suffering, even though he is doing him the greatest evil of all evils: murdering him. Among these "soft" and less traumatic methods of murder are the use of psychotropic drugs, gas release, stabbing in strategic and fast-bleeding areas, jumping from a great height...

According to Save the Children, about 24% of child deaths recorded since 2012 were murders perpetrated by their mothers, 36% by their fathers, and 7% as a result of bullying suicide. The remaining 33% of child deaths were due to reckless homicides or murders carried out by people outside the family. About one-third of mothers who murder their children attempt suicide afterwards, and 23% of them succeed.

What are the signs of this type of homicide?

There are diagnostic criteria to determine that we are dealing with an extended case of suicide, or that the person is at risk of suicide.or that the person is at risk of attempting to take the life of a loved one in order to subsequently attempt suicide. The most notable are the following:

• Intention of the aggressor to die.
• Inclusion of a second person in the suicidal act without his or her consent.
• Suicide is not a consequence of homicide. They occur at the same time.
• Altruistic or pseudo-altruistic motivation (e.g., "to spare my child suffering").
• Spontaneous decision, without realizing the consequences of the act.

Risk factors

Different explanations have been given to understand why a person, in most cases of women who commit homicide-suicide, commits extended suicide, although in most cases the explanation resorts to psychopathology, especially when suffering from major depression.

In most cases, these are women who are depressed, either as a result of maltreatment or abuse.They are so desperate that they do not believe that they are in a state of despair. They are so desperate that they do not believe there is a better alternative than death. It is especially common when the person has psychotic or delusional symptoms, such as those that can be found in cases of paranoid schizophrenia.

A history of suicide prior to making this extended suicide attempt, whether successful or unsuccessful, has been found to be a risk factor. In addition to this, suffering from a severe personality disorder, such as BPD, is a risk factor.such as BPD, is something that can significantly influence the achievement of this type of homicide-suicide. Substance use and intoxication can also contribute to its occurrence.

To all this, we must not fall into the error of stigmatizing mothers who have undergone or are undergoing a depressive episode, have been diagnosed with schizophrenia or, in the past, have made self-harming attempts. As we have already seen, abuse and marital problems, along with labor and economic problems can influence a person to feel so overwhelmed by events that he or she sees no way to keep the children safe, and decides to end it all at once.

A controversial concept

Killing a child or other loved one, whatever the motivation that pushes to commit this type of act, is something despicable and certainly can not be justified in any way, whether you are a man or a woman.

The concept of extended suicide has been criticized, given that, sometimes, and in some cases, it is not always possible to justify it.The concept of extended suicide has been criticized, given that, sometimes, and as some media expose it, rather than treating it for what it is, a homicide followed by a suicide, it is presented in a very different way to the aggressor. Depending on the ideology of the media, the fact that a mother murders her child can be seen either as a heroic act against the macho society, or just the opposite, emphasizing the lack of criticism towards the behavior of the one who has killed.

It is important to note that there is little information about the number of cases in which in which, in reality, we would be dealing with an extended suicide as such. That is to say, the mother ends the life of her offspring because she does not see a promising future.

In these cases we would be dealing with a person who is suffering from a psychological problem, mostly of a depressive type combined with psychotic symptoms and delusional ideas. This does not condone the homicidal act, but it allows to understand that who has done it does not do it out of revenge or hatred towards the husband or towards the victimbut believes that he/she is being altruistic.

On the other hand, there is the idea that there are indeed cases, although few, in which the mother would not have any mental disorder and the homicidal act would have been committed in a context of domestic violence, in a situation that would have gotten out of hand.

The records that take into account cases of extended suicide are made a posteriori, that is, once they have happened and the suicidal person can no longer explain his or her reality because he or she is dead.

This means that the investigation, although efficient in most cases, does not always know exactly what the motivation of the homicide-suicide was. If the person was depressed but did not go to a professional, there will be no medical or psychiatric history. If it is the case that she was the one who committed the abuse but the husband did not report it, it is difficult to be sure whether the husband's statements after the event are true or fabricated.

Final reflection

In the light of all this, a final reflection is in order, and that is that that neither mood disorders nor domestic violence should be underestimated, whoever the aggressor is and whoever the aggressor is.whoever the aggressor and the victim may be.

Everyone can suffer, at some point in their lives, a depression, which can be aggravated depending on the personality characteristics of the individual and external factors, such as the experience of abuse that hundreds of women suffer every day and that are related to most of the cases of extended suicide that are seen in the media. It has to do with the situation he has had to live in and certain factors that have predisposed him to believe that the best thing to do is to end it all in this way.

Everyone can live in a situation that, far from looking for a realistic solution or seeking the support of loved ones and authorities, believes that the best end of all is death. The person who is suffering should be helped as soon as possible.The person should be helped as soon as possible, react to symptoms of extreme sadness that may indicate psychopathology, see if progressive isolation is taking place or if the person shows no signs of enjoying what he or she used to enjoy.

It is therefore of vital importance to understand that psychiatric units specializing in the mother-child (or father-child, as the case may be) bond should be established and encouraged to observe whether there is a risk of this type of homicide-suicide being committed.. In addition, interventions in suicidal crises should be refined to ensure that, in particular, the child or loved one involved in the suicidal act is not harmed.

Intervention must be multidisciplinary.The intervention must be multidisciplinary, with psychiatrists, social workers, psychologists and physicians working in a collaborative and coordinated manner to ensure the maximum well-being of both the mother/father and her children in the face of a case of mood disorder. Greater sensitivity is also needed on the part of other professionals who do not work directly with psychiatric patients or cases of maltreatment, such as gynecologists, family physicians and pediatricians.

Bibliographic reference:

• Meszaros, K., Fischer-Danzinger, D. (2000). Extended suicide attempt: psychopathology, personality and risk factors. psychopathology, 33(1), 5-10. doi: https://doi-org.sire.ub.edu/10.1159/000029111