ABSTRACT
The interpretation of suicide in psy-knowledge is different from legal and medical sites of practice. Defined as the broad spectrum of sciences that deal with the human mind, psy-knowledge focuses on the state of the mind instead of the body (Rose 1998). This focus duly recognizes the vulnerability and fragility of the human mind. And as the founder of suicidology, Edwin Shneidman, tells us, suicide is ‘chiefly a drama in the mind’ (1996: 4, my emphasis). For Shneidman (1996), this interpretation is significant because it allows us to understand what motivates people to suicide and, more importantly, what can be done towards preventing suicide from occurring. But what if this drama does not belong to the mind alone? If so, are we missing half of the story?
