I just asked to AI some details about impulsivity vs planned suicide. Here are the results :
On completed suicides (deaths):
- The data are more limited, but reviews suggest that impulsivity plays a similar role, often associated with factors such as young age, substance abuse, and low intent to die (paradoxically, as impulsivity can lead to unplanned but fatal acts). No study provides a precise and consensual percentage for completed suicides, but research on fatal behaviors estimates that 25% to 50% could be impulsive, based on the absence of prior signs or notes. For example, studies on firearms (a lethal method) show that many suicides are impulsive during short crises.
- These figures highlight that impulsivity is a major factor in prevention (e.g., restricting access to lethal means), but planned suicides are often linked to chronic mental disorders such as major depression.
And about overcoming SI (information from Grok)
Here are several detailed studies on the relationship between the survival instinct and completed (successful) suicides. These studies explore how this fundamental evolutionary instinct can be overcome, often through neural, evolutionary, psychological, or contextual mechanisms (such as access to lethal means). Although data on completed suicides are limited (retrospective studies via psychological autopsies), many rely on survivors of near-lethal attempts as a proxy. Here is an overview of the main studies and theories, with a table summarizing the key approaches.
General Overview
- Neural Perspective: Studies suggest that survival circuits (hypothalamus, amygdala, parabrachial nucleus) malfunction in suicidal individuals, allowing prefrontal regions involved in emotional regulation to prioritize self-destructive behaviors over the survival instinct.
- Evolutionary Perspective: Suicide contradicts survival and reproduction, but theories like "inclusive fitness" propose that, in certain contexts (low reproductive value, burden to kin), it could benefit family genes, thus overriding the individual instinct.
- Psychological and Sensory Perspective: Among attempt survivors, reduced sensitivity to bodily signals (interoception) may facilitate overcoming fear or pain, potentially applicable to completed suicides. Additionally, phenomena like the "high place phenomenon" show that apparent impulses to jump are actually misinterpreted survival signals, not suicidal.
- Contextual Factors: Access to lethal means (e.g., firearms) enables overcoming the instinct during impulsive crises, with 85% lethality for firearm attempts vs. <3% for overdoses.
- Self-Preservation Theory: The instinct is overcome when social connections collapse, leading to a loss of vital meaning and increased vulnerability to stressors
And I asked in the case of assisted suicide and SI :
There are reflections and studies addressing the question of the survival instinct in the context of assisted suicide (or euthanasia), although specific data are less abundant than for impulsive or non-assisted suicides. Assisted suicide, often legal in certain countries (such as Switzerland, the Netherlands, or Belgium) for cases of unbearable suffering related to terminal illnesses, involves a rational and planned decision, distinguishing it from impulsive acts. The survival instinct—this fundamental evolutionary mechanism that drives the avoidance of death—is not absent but can be overcome by psychological, ethical, biological, and contextual factors, such as extreme suffering ("total pain" encompassing physical, mental, social, and existential aspects), loss of dignity, or a philosophical acceptance of death as liberation. Research often highlights an internal conflict: the fear of death persists but is overshadowed by the fear of prolonged suffering.
Here is an overview based on relevant studies and theories:
General Overview
- Evolutionary and Biological Perspective: From an evolutionary standpoint, only the survival instinct exists, with no Freudian "death instinct"; seeking death goes against human nature, which aims to avoid death rather than pursue it. In assisted suicide, this instinct is overcome by a conscious decision, often facilitated by suffering that alters the perception of life as viable. Survival circuits (hypothalamus, amygdala) may dysfunction, allowing prefrontal regions to prioritize rational self-destruction. This poses a biological enigma, as assisted suicide contradicts the evolutionary struggle for existence.
- Psychological and Ethical Perspective: Among patients opting for assisted suicide (e.g., "suicide tourism" in Switzerland), the fear of death and the survival instinct are present—some express being "very frightened"—but are overcome by the desire for control, dignity, and a "good death" (controlled, painless). Total suffering (physical, social, existential) motivates this override, with philosophical justifications tracing back to Plato or Seneca, who viewed death as liberation from unbearable pain. Studies on motivations (e.g., feeling like a burden, loss of autonomy) show that these factors help rationalize overcoming the instinct.
- Contextual Factors: Access to medicalized lethal means (e.g., barbiturates) facilitates the process, reducing the instinctive barrier related to pain or uncertainty. Cases like Arthur Koestler's illustrate how preparation helps overcome fear, not of death itself, but of the dying process. Religiously, prohibitions (Christianity, Islam) reinforce the survival instinct through fear of divine judgment, but some patients transcend these to escape suffering.
- Spiritual and Thanatological Aspects: Research on near-death experiences (NDEs) or discarnate survival suggests that assisted suicide might interfere with natural processes of spiritual disengagement at the end of life, where suffering aids spiritual evolution. This pits the survival instinct against a broader view of death as a transition.
