ABSTRACT
This chapter will address two questions: what makes some people wish to commit suicide, and what makes it possible to carry out a self-destructive act against one's self. The answer to these questions will be sought within the realms of the suicidal mind and the suicidal body. The suicidal mind will be explored using Shneidman's (1993a) concept of mental pain. I proffer that the suicidal wish is an end-result of unbearable mental pain stemming mostly from pain-producing inner constructs. These pain-producing inner constructs are triggered by sensors and sensitivities to circumstances that arouse mental pain such as loss, narcissistic hurt, guilt, and failure. The inner constructs also include beliefs and attitudes towards life and death, concerning the conditions under which life is worth living, as well as selfdestructive tendencies. When the inner constructs are set in motion, they can produce unbearable mental pain, as a result of which a person may wish to kill her or himself. Yet in order to be able to carry out a selfdestructive act against one's self, special bodily states and processes come into play. The suicidal body is characterized by dissociation, numbness, anhedonia, indifference to physical pain, and a heightening of thresholds of senses. Such bodily states can facilitate suicidal behavior, as they make it easier to aggressively attack the body.
