Fact-checked by Grok 2 weeks ago

Suicide note

A suicide note is a written communication authored by an individual immediately prior to their by , typically conveying explanations for the act, expressions of or toward survivors, and practical directives such as asset or care for dependents. Empirical content analyses of verified notes from coronial and records consistently identify dominant themes of guilt or (prevalent in up to 80% of cases), enduring for family members (around 55%), and hopelessness tied to interpersonal or existential failures, underscoring a deliberate culmination of prolonged distress rather than impulsive aberration. These documents, while absent in the majority of —owing to factors like sudden ideation or logistical constraints—offer unparalleled primary data for dissecting suicidal cognition, revealing recurrent narratives of perceived burdensomeness, unmet relational needs, and disillusionment with interventions that fail to alleviate core suffering. In forensic contexts, authentic notes aid in distinguishing self-inflicted from by evidencing premeditation and intent, though their interpretive validity demands scrutiny against fabricated counterparts, which often lack the nuanced emotional layering of genuine exemplars. analyses of note corpora further expose structured semantic patterns, with elevated connectivity among terms denoting resignation and , challenging reductive models that overlook the volitional inherent in such final articulations.

Definition and Characteristics

Definition

A note is a written composed by an individual who dies by , typically conveying explanations for the act, farewells to , expressions of or love, or practical instructions for survivors. These notes serve as primary sources offering direct access to the cognitive and emotional state of the deceased at the time of writing. Suicide notes, also termed notes, are distinguished from other writings by their temporal proximity to the and explicit relevance to the decision to end one's life, which may encompass accounts of unbearable , relational conflicts, or perceived hopelessness. Research characterizes them as varying in length and formality, from brief statements to extended narratives, but consistently reflecting the final thoughts of the author. is often assessed through linguistic patterns, such as heightened emotional intensity and references to intent, differentiating genuine notes from simulated ones. While not all suicides involve notes—estimates from forensic and psychological studies indicate presence in 15% to 40% of cases depending on demographic and cultural factors—their existence provides invaluable data for understanding suicidal ideation without intermediary interpretation. Notes may also address forensic implications, aiding in the differentiation between suicide, accident, or homicide by clarifying intent.

Prevalence and Demographics

Studies report varying prevalence rates of suicide notes among completed suicides, typically ranging from 15% to 45% depending on the population and methodology examined. In a six-year population-based study of 2,936 suicides in , , from 2003 to 2008, 18.25% of cases included a suicide note. A review of 476 suicide files in identified notes in 45.8% of cases, with 74.3% of those being handwritten on . These discrepancies may arise from differences in detection methods, cultural factors, or definitional criteria for what constitutes a note, such as excluding brief messages or digital formats. Demographic characteristics of suicide note leavers show inconsistencies across investigations, with some finding minimal differences from non-note suicides and others identifying notable patterns. One population study observed no significant differences in age, sex, race, marital status, or method of between note leavers and non-leavers. In contrast, multiple analyses indicate that note writers are disproportionately ; for instance, in a large U.S. sample, females had 1.327 times higher odds of leaving a note compared to males (95% CI 1.284–1.373). Note leavers also tend to be less often married, more frequently experiencing financial or interpersonal crises, and characterized by levels, salaried employment, rural residence, and fewer prior attempts. A comprehensive comparison of note leavers versus other suicides across 39 variables revealed differences in 30 or more, including demographics like , , and socioeconomic factors, suggesting note writers may represent a non-random subset of suicides rather than a fully representative sample. Limited data exist on age-specific patterns, though broader trends show higher overall rates among older males, potentially implying lower note-leaving proportions in that group given the female skew in notes. These variations underscore the need for caution in generalizing from note-based research to all s, as selection biases may influence psychological inferences drawn from notes alone.

Historical Development

Early Historical Examples

The earliest known text interpreted as a suicide note dates to ancient Egypt's , circa 2000 BCE, preserved on a now in the Ägyptisches Museum und Papyrussammlung in . Titled "The Dispute of a Man with His Ba" (ba referring to the or personality aspect), it depicts a man's internal dialogue expressing exhaustion with life's injustices, corruption, and suffering, culminating in a portrayal of as a desirable escape comparable to "the odor of " or "sitting under a sail on a breezy day." The document's author argues against his 's reluctance to die, highlighting themes of , by society, and without resolution, leading scholars to classify it as the oldest recorded expression of depressive suicidal contemplation. Its literary-poetic structure, however, prompts debate over whether it functions as a personal pre-suicide missive or a stylized akin to , rather than evidence of an actual suicide. No comparable personal suicide notes survive from classical or antiquity, despite frequent historical accounts of voluntary deaths among elites, such as (c. 434 BCE) or (46 BCE), often motivated by philosophical conviction or political defeat. These cases emphasize rational choice over despair but lack documented written explanations left for others, possibly due to cultural norms viewing as honorable rather than requiring posthumous justification, or to incomplete archival preservation. Documented suicide notes reemerge in European records during the , particularly in , where improving coronial practices and enabled their collection and study. Historians have identified over 70 such letters from 1700 to 1850, typically brief prose explanations citing triggers like , , or perceived , while absolving family of responsibility and detailing asset distribution. For example, a 1757 English letter exemplifies early modern variants by announcing the act's finality and seeking paternal forgiveness, reflecting Enlightenment-era sensibilities influenced by sentimental novels like Goethe's (1774), which romanticized self-destruction. These writings often manipulated materiality—such as folding, sealing, or placement—to convey urgency or remorse, underscoring their role in negotiating amid rising suicide rates tied to and economic upheaval.

20th-Century Analysis and Research

In the mid-20th century, systematic empirical analysis of suicide notes emerged as a foundational element of . Edwin Shneidman, while accessing records at the County General Hospital's coroner's office in 1949, encountered hundreds of previously unexamined suicide notes, prompting him to collect and study them for insights into the suicidal mindset. This led to the 1957 publication of Clues to Suicide by Shneidman and Norman Farberow, which examined notes to delineate patterns in suicidal communication, including logical distortions and expressions of acute psychological distress termed "psychache." Their work emphasized notes as direct artifacts of the suicidal process, revealing recurrent motifs of pain, isolation, and cessation of consciousness as core drivers. By the , researchers expanded on these foundations with targeted demographic analyses. A 1969 study of 259 suicide notes tested hypotheses on age-related variations in ideation, finding that older note-writers more frequently expressed themes of burden and finality, while younger ones highlighted interpersonal conflicts and , supporting causal links between life-stage stressors and suicidal content. Shneidman's ongoing research through the 1970s and 1980s, including collections in Suicide Notes and Tragic Lives (1981), reinforced psychache as a unifying causal factor, with notes illustrating of thought—wherein alternatives to narrow to a singular, irreversible option. In the late , Antony Leenaars advanced through a structured, theory-driven framework. Beginning in the , Leenaars applied a logical-empirical method to dissect manifest and latent note content, culminating in the Thematic Guide to Suicide Prediction (TGSP) by the early 1990s, which operationalized multidimensional constructs like unbearability, , and across cross-cultural samples. This approach, tested on matched and non-suicide writings, identified predictive markers such as explicit problem-solving failure and cessation-oriented language, enabling forensic and preventive applications while grounding interpretations in verifiable textual rather than unsubstantiated psychoanalytic speculation. These developments collectively prioritized causal realism in interpreting notes as of proximal psychic states, influencing clinical assessments and diverging from earlier, less rigorous institutional reviews often tainted by unexamined assumptions about narratives.

Content Analysis

Common Themes and Motifs

Suicide notes commonly feature expressions of intolerable and hopelessness, reflecting the intrapsychic dynamics central to as identified in early content analyses. These motifs often manifest as descriptions of overwhelming emotional distress, contradictory feelings, or a perceived lack of alternatives to , aligning with foundational suicidological frameworks that emphasize psychache—unbearable mental —as a core driver. Such themes appear consistently across samples, underscoring a causal link between acute subjective torment and the act of note-writing prior to . Recurring interpersonal motifs include apologies, guilt, and farewells expressing love for survivors, which serve to mitigate perceived burdens or affirm enduring attachments. In an empirical analysis of 129 genuine notes from India, 90% incorporated apology, shame, or guilt, while 55% explicitly conveyed love for family or others left behind; 40% provided practical instructions, such as handling finances or belongings, indicating a motif of posthumous responsibility. Comparative thematic studies from the United States and Mexico similarly highlight relational strains, with motifs of failed relationships or burdensomeness appearing in over half of notes, often intertwined with positive affect toward loved ones despite the decision to end life. Other prevalent motifs encompass directed inward or outward, life event triggers like losses or diagnoses, and occasionally altruistic rationales framing as a release for others. Semantic network analyses of large note corpora reveal structured emotional contrasts, with and forming dominant clusters alongside motifs of or in subsets, distinguishing genuine notes from simulated ones through heightened in pain narratives. In U.S.-specific samples (N=49), affective disturbances and relational conflicts dominated, comprising 60-70% of motivational content, while somatic elements like or illness featured less prominently but reinforced hopelessness when present. These patterns hold across demographics, though varies; for instance, elderly notes emphasize and sleep disruption as amplifying motifs. Overall, such themes provide empirical windows into suicidal , prioritizing raw experiential reports over interpretive biases in secondary sources.

Linguistic and Stylistic Features

Suicide notes often exhibit distinctive linguistic patterns, including a high frequency of first-person pronouns such as "I" and "me," reflecting intense self-focus and , as identified in analyses of genuine notes compared to simulated ones. Studies using on collections like those compiled by Shneidman reveal that authentic notes frequently employ absolutes (e.g., "always," "never") and intensifiers (e.g., "completely," "utterly"), signaling cognitive rigidity and emotional extremity, whereas fabricated notes tend to include more varied or external attributions. Stylistically, these notes are characterized by brevity and directness, with shorter sentences and paragraphs than typical personal correspondence, often prioritizing clarity of intent over elaboration to convey finality and reduce for survivors. of key phrases, such as expressions of love, guilt, or farewell, serves to emphasize unresolved emotions or justifications, distinguishing genuine notes from elicited ones, which may overemphasize blame or lack personal idiosyncrasies. in authentic notes typically remains coherent, with consistent tense usage (predominantly present or future-oriented for explanations) and minimal errors, countering misconceptions of ; deviations, like fragmented syntax, correlate more with acute distress than fabrication. Vocabulary leans toward negative semantic frames, including themes of pain, burden, and separation, with reduced positive emotional language, as analyses demonstrate structured contrasts between "" (neutral or negative ) and death-related concepts. and online corpora, such as Reddit-sourced notes from 2012–2020, show consistent patterns of inclusive pronouns (e.g., "we") diminishing in favor of exclusive , underscoring relational disconnection. Forensic further notes as a marker, with frequent ellipses or exclamations heightening urgency, though these must be contextualized against the writer's baseline style to authenticate. Overall, these features enable differentiation via , where genuine notes cluster around markers of introspective finality rather than performative narrative.

Psychological and Causal Insights

Insights into Suicidal Motivation

Analyses of suicide notes consistently identify unbearable , conceptualized by Edwin Shneidman as "psychache," as the predominant motivator, surpassing mere or external stressors in explanatory power. Shneidman's examination of over 1,000 cases in the mid-20th century revealed notes articulating acute mental torment, often described as inescapable agony driving the act as a cessation of rather than a desire for itself. This formulation emphasizes —disruptions in vital functions like intimacy, control, and —as causal precursors, with notes serving as raw articulations of these breakdowns. Empirical content analyses corroborate psychological distress as primary, with relational and somatic factors secondary. A 2007 study applying the Motivational Frustrators Model to 40 notes found psychological motivations (e.g., hopelessness, self-loathing) in 68% of cases, relational issues (e.g., abandonment, guilt toward ) in 45%, spiritual concerns in 25%, and physical illness in 20%. Similarly, a 2024 examination of 49 U.S. notes categorized motivations into affective states (e.g., despair, 55%), relationships (e.g., perceived burdensomeness, 41%), life events (e.g., financial ruin, 29%), and injury/medical diagnoses (e.g., , 22%), underscoring multifaceted but pain-centric drives. These patterns hold across demographics, though notes from those with diagnosed mental illness highlight conflicts between and perceived illness dominance, such as futile resistance to intrusive thoughts. Interpersonal dynamics emerge as a key causal thread, with notes often framing as to relational or blame avoidance. Qualitative reviews indicate decedents use notes to manage perceptions, expressing love (in 70-80% of analyzed samples) while absolving others of , consistent with causal models positing thwarted as accelerant to ideation. Hopelessness narratives predominate, with semantic analyses of larger corpora (e.g., 2011-2021 datasets) detecting structured emotional contrasts—amplification of negative self-appraisals against faded future orientations—beyond random linguistic models. motivations, while present, rarely standalone; instead, physical decline amplifies psychache, as in notes citing as intolerable extension of mental suffering. Notes challenge reductive views by revealing and in suicidal logic: many authors weigh alternatives, affirm life value pre-crisis, and select methods for perceived , indicating rooted in acute, situationally triggered rather than chronic predisposition alone. This aligns with causal realism, where notes evince as adaptive response to overwhelming perturbation, not impulsive whim, though institutional analyses (e.g., in journals) may underemphasize non-illness triggers like acute loss due to diagnostic biases favoring .

Comparisons with Non-Note Suicides

Research indicates variability in findings across studies comparing suicide decedents who leave notes with those who do not, with some identifying demographic, clinical, and circumstantial distinctions while others report minimal differences. A Finnish study of 1,095 suicide victims found note-leavers (12.7% of cases) were more frequently female ( 1.53), unmarried or divorced ( 1.46), experiencing financial or partnership crises ( 1.53 and 1.66, respectively), and had comorbid medical illnesses ( 1.42), alongside lower histories of ( 0.70). In contrast, a six-year U.S. population-based analysis of 2,936 s reported no significant differences in demographics (, , ) or circumstances (, , prior attempts) between note-leavers (18.25%) and non-leavers. Clinically, note-leavers often exhibit profiles suggesting greater premeditation or relational focus. They are more likely to have lived alone and made prior threats, per a study of 152 cases, implying heightened or communicative intent absent in non-note suicides. A investigation of 127 suicides highlighted differences in methods (e.g., more ingestions among note-leavers) and stated reasons (e.g., interpersonal conflicts), with note-leavers skewing and older. Psychologically, notes may signal or a desire for , correlating with less compared to non-note cases, which empirical reviews link to sudden acts amid acute stressors like —though direct causal links remain debated due to retrospective data limitations. Methodological challenges, including small sample sizes and cultural variances, contribute to inconsistent results; for instance, an Indian found negligible demographic disparities, urging caution against overgeneralization. Overall, where differences emerge, they point to note-leavers confronting interpersonal or chronic burdens more explicitly, potentially reflecting causal pathways involving prolonged ideation rather than abrupt despair predominant in non-note suicides.

Forensic and Investigative Role

Authentication Methods

Authentication of suicide notes relies on to verify authorship and distinguish genuine expressions of suicidal intent from potential forgeries or staged homicides. Handwriting analysis compares the note's characteristics—such as baseline alignment, slant direction, letter size, pressure variations, spacing, and margins—to exemplar samples from the decedent, revealing consistencies in formation and individuality. Emotional distress in authentic notes often manifests as irregularities like tremors or accelerated strokes, which can be quantified through image processing techniques, including , region-of-interest , and algorithms to isolate skeletal features for matching. Challenges arise from the decedent's altered or unconventional writing surfaces, necessitating multi-sample comparisons and contextual evaluation of the death scene. Forensic linguistics employs qualitative and quantitative scrutiny of linguistic elements to assess , examining syntax, lexical choices, , and pragmatic features against established corpora of verified notes. Genuine notes typically exhibit conciseness, prevalent first-person pronouns (e.g., "I"), emotive expressions of resignation or despair, and culturally contextual elements like spiritual invocations, while lacking elaborate justifications or defensive . categorizes words into positive/negative semantic groups, evaluates sentence length and parts-of-speech distribution, and computes polarity scores to align with patterns of finality in authentic cases, such as framing as the sole resolution. Tools like Linguistic Inquiry and (LIWC) profile emotional and cognitive markers, identifying elevated negative affect and reduced indicative of . Stylometric techniques apply computational to statistically compare authorship via frequency distributions of function words, n-grams, and , often using software like R Stylo for probabilistic matching against known writings. Physical document forensics, though less central for contemporaneous notes, may involve composition analysis or via profiles if temporal discrepancies are suspected, alongside checks for cutaneous transfer on the as corroborative of self-authorship. Integrated approaches, combining these methods with psychological and , enhance reliability, as isolated techniques risk false positives from skilled imitation.

Implications for Cause of Death Determination

Suicide notes constitute a pivotal piece of in forensic investigations aimed at determining the , particularly by affirming suicidal intent in cases where physical evidence alone may be inconclusive. When authenticated, a note provides direct testimony of the decedent's state of mind, often detailing motivations, premeditation, or instructions that align with self-inflicted harm, thereby supporting classifications of over or accident. In jurisdictions following guidelines from bodies like the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), certification as requires evidence of self-infliction, which a note bolsters through investigatory and psychological corroboration alongside and findings. The presence of a suicide note is especially influential in deaths involving covert methods, such as drug intoxication or , where overt is absent and accidental overdose might otherwise be presumed. Empirical analysis indicates that evidentiary notes are more prevalent in such non-violent suicides, reducing ambiguity and facilitating affirmative rulings by medical examiners. For instance, notes can delineate between intentional self- and unintentional exposure, as they often articulate finality or absent in accidental scenarios. However, certifiers must integrate notes with comprehensive , as reliance solely on a note risks error in roughly one-third of suicides where none exists, underscoring the note's probative but non-dispositive value. In potential homicide-suicide masquerades, notes serve a discriminatory function by revealing inconsistencies if forged, such as mismatched or content devoid of personal , though remains prerequisite. Legally, notes admitted under evidentiary rules can sway coronial inquests or trials, illuminating causal pathways like relational strife or despair that precipitated the act, thus precluding alternative manners like undetermined. Overall, while notes enhance causal realism in death certification by evidencing volition, their interpretive weight demands cross-verification to mitigate biases toward presumptive rulings in equivocal cases.

Notable Examples and Case Studies

Historical and Literary Figures

, the English modernist author known for works such as and , died by drowning on March 28, 1941, after filling her coat pockets with stones and walking into the River Ouse near her home in . She left a suicide note dated March 18, 1941, addressed to her husband , in which she described her fear of impending mental collapse and reluctance to endure another episode of what she perceived as madness, stating: "Dearest, I feel certain I am going mad again. I feel we can't go through another of those terrible times. And I shan't recover this time. I begin to dread my daily self." The note concluded with affirmations of their happiness and her unwillingness to spoil his life further, emphasizing her decision as a release from . Forensic linguistic analysis has confirmed the note's authenticity through stylistic consistency with Woolf's known writings, including lexical choices, syntactic patterns, and emotional tone indicative of her personal voice. Stefan Zweig, the Austrian novelist and biographer exiled due to Nazi persecution, committed by on February 22, 1942, in , , alongside his wife ; he was 60 years old. In a declaration titled "Declaração," written in and dated the same day, Zweig expressed profound despair over the destruction of his spiritual homeland in amid , while affirming his growing affection for as a land of refuge and beauty: "Every day I learned to love this country more, and nowhere else would I have felt happier founding a new existence." The note framed his death as a deliberate choice to avoid further witnessing humanity's self-inflicted ruin, underscoring themes of cultural loss and personal defeat rather than immediate psychological torment. This document, preserved in archives such as the , reflects Zweig's humanist worldview eroded by geopolitical upheaval, with no disputes over its provenance reported in primary historical records. Getúlio Vargas, from 1930 to 1945 and again from 1951 until his death, shot himself in the heart on August 24, 1954, at age 72, amid political scandals and pressures. His handwritten "Carta Testamento," addressed to the Brazilian people and discovered shortly after, condemned domestic and foreign adversaries for orchestrating his downfall, declaring: "To the wrath of my enemies I leave the legacy of my death," and positioned his as martyrdom to safeguard national sovereignty against elite interests. Broadcast nationwide within hours, the letter rallied public sympathy, averting a coup and influencing Vargas's posthumous image as a populist defender; it contained no expressions of personal remorse but focused on political vindication, aligning with his authoritarian governance style. Historical analyses treat it as genuine, based on verification and contextual alignment with Vargas's prior .

Modern High-Profile Cases

In the case of American author , who died by self-inflicted gunshot wound on February 20, 2005, at his home in , a suicide note was discovered expressing frustration with aging and physical decline, stating in part, "No More Games. No More Bombs. No More Walking. No More Fun. No More Flying. No More Growing Up. No More Everything," and concluding with "relax – this won't hurt." The note's publication highlighted Thompson's style even in final words, though his widow later requested a reinvestigation into the death, which remains officially ruled a suicide. Fashion designer died by hanging on June 5, 2018, in her apartment, leaving a note addressed to her husband and 13-year-old daughter Bea, which explained her decision and emphasized that her actions were not their fault. Authorities confirmed the note's presence at the scene, amid reports of Spade's struggles with , though her family noted no prior indication of such severity. Actor Billy Miller, known for roles in and , died from a self-inflicted wound to the head on September 15, 2023, at age 43 in , with multiple letters at the scene indicating intent and providing instructions for others. The Travis County Medical Examiner's autopsy ruled the death a , noting and antidepressants in his system, consistent with his reported . In July 2024, Lucy-Bleu Knight, 25-year-old stepdaughter of musician Slash, died from toxicity in a rental unit, leaving a packet of notes for family members and a separate warning for about toxic gas hazards at the scene. The County confirmed the ruling, underscoring the deliberate method involving chemical inhalation.

Cultural Representations and Misconceptions

Depictions in Media and Literature

In literature, suicide notes frequently function as narrative devices to reveal hidden motivations, foster suspense, or explore psychological turmoil. Michael Thomas Ford's 2008 Suicide Notes centers on a teenage involuntarily committed to a psychiatric facility after a ; as part of his treatment, he composes daily "suicide notes" that evolve from denial and anger to regarding his and interpersonal conflicts. The notes serve as introspective monologues, blending humor and to humanize the character's internal struggles. Similarly, Lynn Weingarten's 2015 thriller Suicide Notes from revolves around a cryptic, fragmented note left by a deceased friend, prompting the narrator to question its authenticity and unravel potential foul play amid themes of and . These fictional portrayals often amplify emotional eloquence and explanatory detail, diverging from analyses of authentic notes, which typically exhibit shorter lengths, repetitive semantic clusters around burden and farewell, and minimal causal exposition. Film depictions similarly leverage suicide notes for dramatic irony, satire, or survivor guilt. In Bobcat Goldthwait's 2009 black comedy , a grieving father (played by ) fabricates an elaborate, confessional note after discovering his son's , transforming the fabricated text into a posthumous that catapults him to celebrity status through media hype. The note's contrived profundity mocks public romanticization of as inspirational , highlighting how such artifacts can distort grief into spectacle. Other cinematic examples, such as the forged or disputed notes in forensic-themed plots, underscore notes' role in —evident in films where handwriting analysis or content discrepancies drive investigations—but rarely align with forensic realities, where genuine notes prioritize absolution over literary flourish. These representations, while engaging, contribute to cultural misconceptions by emphasizing narrative closure, whereas empirical reviews indicate only about 25-30% of suicides involve notes, most lacking the verbose seen in .

Prevalent Myths and Empirical Debunking

A prevalent holds that most individuals who die by leave a , implying that the absence of one suggests or misclassification of the . Empirical data from multiple studies refute this, showing that notes accompany only 12% to 42% of suicides, with typical estimates around 25-30%. A population-based analysis of 2,936 suicides in , , from 2006-2012 reported notes in 18.25% of cases, with no significant differences in demographics, methods, or circumstances between note-leavers and non-leavers. Similarly, a review of international data confirms variability but consistently low , attributing non-note suicides to factors like acute emotional states precluding writing or deliberate avoidance of burdening survivors. Another common misconception is that genuine suicide notes can be readily distinguished from simulated or fabricated ones by lay observers through cues like expressions of , , or specific phrasing. Psychological experiments, including those by Leenaars and , exposed undergraduates to paired genuine and simulated notes from established corpora, revealing identification accuracy near chance levels (around 58% overall, with some pairs indistinguishable). Participants often misattributed simulated notes emphasizing logical despair as genuine, while underrating authentic notes with incoherent or relational themes, underscoring that perceptual biases—rather than objective markers—drive judgments. No reliable linguistic or thematic traits have been isolated to enable consistent differentiation without forensic expertise. It is also erroneously believed that suicide notes invariably provide explicit, rational explanations of motives, aiding prevention or understanding. Content analyses of verified notes reveal frequent , brevity, or focus on interpersonal grievances over causal details, with many expressing unresolvable without naming triggers like mental illness or stressors. For example, studies of adolescent and adult notes highlight themes of , guilt, or finality, but only a subset delineates precipitants, challenging assumptions of premeditated clarity and highlighting how cognitive distortions in suicidal states limit explanatory capacity. This variability cautions against over-relying on notes for etiological insights, as empirical patterns prioritize emotional release over forensic exposition.

Controversies and Debates

Disputes over Authenticity

In cases where a suicide note is discovered alongside a death initially classified as self-inflicted, authenticity disputes frequently emerge when inconsistencies in handwriting, linguistic patterns, or contextual details suggest possible fabrication by another party, often to stage a homicide as suicide. Forensic linguistics and psychological profiling play central roles in such challenges, examining features like atypical phrasing, absence of typical suicidal ideation markers (e.g., expressions of hopelessness or farewells), or references to private information unknown to the deceased. Handwriting analysis, ink dating, and content cross-verification against the decedent's prior writings further underpin these disputes, though no method guarantees infallibility without corroborative physical evidence. A prominent example is the 1992 death of Paula Gilfoyle in the , where her husband, Edward Gilfoyle, was convicted of in 1993 after producing multiple handwritten and typed notes purportedly authored by her, expressing suicidal intent amid fabricated claims of and complications. Prosecutors contested their authenticity based on linguistic anomalies—such as overly dramatic, non-idiomatic inconsistent with Paula's documented —and the notes' discovery only after scrutiny intensified, including a typed draft saved on Gilfoyle's computer post-death. Court-appointed experts, including forensic Geoffrey Cannell, initially deemed the notes indicative of staging due to their alignment with Gilfoyle's nursing knowledge of rather than genuine despair, though Cannell later recanted in 2008, arguing overlooked evidence of Paula's history. Appeals in 1995, 2000, and 2001 upheld the conviction, citing the notes' inconsistencies as probative of forgery despite Gilfoyle's claims of their legitimacy. In the 1993 death of U.S. Deputy Vincent Foster, a torn note recovered from his briefcase sparked partisan disputes over authenticity, with some handwriting analyses commissioned by critics alleging based on irregular pressure strokes and flow discrepancies. forensic examinations by the FBI and U.S. Park Police, however, confirmed the matched Foster's via exemplar comparisons, and aligned with his documented stressors, including pressures, leading multiple investigations (Fiske 1994, Starr 1997) to affirm without note fabrication. These disputes highlight issues, as challenger reports often stemmed from politically motivated inquiries lacking peer-reviewed validation, contrasting with empirical forensic consensus. Such cases underscore broader evidentiary challenges: while linguistic tools like can differentiate authentic notes (rich in negative affect and finality) from simulated ones (lacking emotional depth), disputes persist when motives like or construction incentivize , necessitating multidisciplinary beyond the note itself. In Gilfoyle-like scenarios, the absence of struggle signs or anomalies bolsters rulings unless note discrepancies compel reclassification, as upheld in appellate reviews prioritizing causal chains over isolated textual claims.

Interpretive Challenges and Viewpoints

Interpreting notes presents significant challenges due to their often fragmented, emotionally charged , which can obscure the writer's true intent and mental state at the time of composition. Empirical analyses reveal that notes frequently exhibit compartmentalized emotional structures, where positive sentiments (e.g., expressions of ) cluster separately from negative ones (e.g., guilt or despair), complicating holistic assessments of . This affective partitioning, observed in models of note content, suggests that writers may alternate between rational reflection and acute distress, leading to ambiguous phrasing that resists straightforward about triggers. Moreover, the brevity of many notes—often under 200 words—limits contextual depth, while linguistic markers like inconsistent tense usage or hyperbolic language can signal rather than deliberate deceit, yet these features overlap with simulated notes, hindering differentiation without additional forensic evidence. Authenticity verification adds further interpretive hurdles, as identifies patterns such as personal references, dates, and idiomatic phrasing as hallmarks of genuineness, but these can be mimicked in fabrications. Studies comparing genuine and elicited notes demonstrate that simulators often overemphasize blame or regret while underrepresenting practical instructions (e.g., asset distribution), yet real-world forgeries in homicide-suicide disputes exploit this knowledge gap. variations exacerbate ambiguity; for instance, notes from collectivist societies may prioritize familial burden over individual pain, altering thematic emphasis and requiring culturally attuned analysis to avoid misattribution. Small sample sizes in empirical studies—typically 40-100 notes—also constrain generalizability, as selection biases (e.g., from records) may overrepresent certain demographics, skewing insights into underrepresented groups like adolescents, whose notes often blend unbearable situational despair with less explicit references. Psychological viewpoints frame notes as windows into suicidal , emphasizing themes of burdensomeness, , and unresolved mental illness experiences, with content analyses consistently identifying guilt/ (in ~90% of cases) and survivor love (~55%) as dominant motifs reflective of interpersonal disconnection. Cognitive-behavioral perspectives interpret these as of distorted agency negotiation, where writers personify illness as an , yet critics argue such readings impose retrospective bias, projecting diagnostic frameworks onto pre-suicidal states without causal proof. In contrast, forensic viewpoints prioritize evidentiary utility, using linguistic (e.g., LIWC-based emotional markers) to assess authorship and intent, positing notes as corroborative rather than determinative of . Empirical skeptics, drawing from thematic guides, highlight predictive limitations: while notes predict recurrent ideation in survivors, their retrospective nature precludes prospective intervention, underscoring debates over whether they reveal rational choice or pathological . These perspectives converge on the need for , integrating notes with , , and history to mitigate interpretive overreach.

References

  1. [1]
    Mysore study: A study of suicide notes - PMC - NIH
    Suicide note is one of the most important sources to understand suicide, which may be beneficial in suicide prevention. Studies on suicidal notes from this ...
  2. [2]
    What Suicide Notes Teach Us about Experiences with Mental Illness ...
    Jul 16, 2018 · Suicide notes can also provide insight into the role of mental illness, the feature that unites almost all people who die by suicide.
  3. [3]
    Insight on motives and contributors derived from suicide notes
    Oct 1, 2015 · Suicide notes contain direct information penned by the individual and the quality of the data may be more reflective of their mental state than ...Research Report · Introduction · Free Will In The Decision To...
  4. [4]
    Genuine and simulated suicide notes: An analysis of content
    The present study examined genuine and simulated suicide notes aiming to identify the measures of content that best differentiate between the two.Missing: review | Show results with:review
  5. [5]
    [PDF] Suicide note and the psychological autopsy: Associated behavioral ...
    The suicide note is one of the elements that can sometimes help to clarify a death of unknown cause by showing that what is involved is a suicide, not an ...
  6. [6]
    Cognitive networks detect structural patterns and emotional ...
    In this study, we used network science to uncover the emotional structure of suicide notes. Building on previous approaches using natural language processing to ...<|separator|>
  7. [7]
    (PDF) Suicide note: The last words - ResearchGate
    Jul 13, 2016 · Suicide note also known as death note is message left by someone who commits suicide or who intends to commit suicide. It is the closest and the final word.
  8. [8]
    Suicide notes written by child and adolescent suicide victims
    Dec 13, 2018 · We defined a suicide note as any written item relevant in time and content to the suicide. Thus, our material included 15 notes and three ...
  9. [9]
    Revealing semantic and emotional structure of suicide notes with ...
    Sep 30, 2021 · Understanding how people who commit suicide perceive their cognitive states and emotions represents an important open scientific challenge.
  10. [10]
    What characteristics of suicide notes are salient for people to allow ...
    Compared 33 matched pairs of genuine and simulated suicide notes, based on 8 patterns (unbearable pain, interpersonal relations, rejection-aggression, ...Missing: research | Show results with:research
  11. [11]
    A Qualitative Analysis of Suicide Notes to Understand ... - PubMed
    Suicide notes enrich our understanding of the thoughts and emotions of those at highest risk of suicide, and they inform potential interventions for ...Missing: definition | Show results with:definition
  12. [12]
    Suicide note- A vital clue in forming opinion to cause of death
    Suicide notes mostly describe the causes and affects which forced the person to commit such act and in process and in almost all cases they are in a mental ...
  13. [13]
    Who leaves suicide notes? A six-year population-based study
    Of the 2,936 suicides, 18.25% included a note. Demographics and circumstances did not differ for cases with a note compared to cases with no note. Results have ...
  14. [14]
    Last Words: Are There Differences in Psychosocial and Clinical ...
    Oct 1, 2018 · Of the 476 suicides files reviewed, 45.8% contained a suicide note. A total of 383 separate suicide notes were left: 74.3% were paper notes and ...Missing: prevalence | Show results with:prevalence<|separator|>
  15. [15]
    Sexual and gender identity and note-leaving among adult suicide ...
    Dec 21, 2022 · The odds of leaving a note before suicide were 1.327 times higher for females than for males (95% CI 1.284–1.373). The odds of leaving a note ...
  16. [16]
    Differences between suicide note leavers and other suicides - PubMed
    Persons who wrote suicide notes before they killed themselves were more often female, less often married, found themselves more often in a financial or ...Missing: demographic | Show results with:demographic
  17. [17]
    Differences in characteristics between suicide victims who left notes ...
    Aug 6, 2025 · ... It is known that more than 50% of suicide completers and 20% of suicide attempters left suicide notes [9]. Thus, leaving suicide notes ...
  18. [18]
    Are Suicide Note Writers Representative of All Suicides? Analysis of ...
    In both bivariable (32/39 variables) and multivariable analyses (30/39 variables), note leavers differed from other suicides in most demographic variables, ...
  19. [19]
    Suicide - National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)
    Among females, the suicide rate was highest for those aged 45-64 (8.6 per 100,000). · Among males, the suicide rate was highest for those aged 75 and older (40.7 ...Suicide is One of the Leading... · Suicide Rates · Suicide Thoughts and...
  20. [20]
    Suicidal Depression in Ancient Egypt - Taylor & Francis Online
    Jan 27, 2021 · In the United States and Western Europe, there has been a recent increase in suicide rates (Baker, Hu, Wilcox, & Baker, 2013; Britton et al.Missing: earliest | Show results with:earliest
  21. [21]
    Jonathan Safran Foer: How an Ancient Suicide Note Led Me Down ...
    Sep 17, 2019 · The oldest suicide note was written in Egypt 4000 years ago. Its translator titled it “Dispute With the Soul of One Who Is Tired of Life.Missing: earliest examples
  22. [22]
    Chapter 1 - Brief history of suicide in Western cultures
    Suicide was punished as a criminal act in many cultures for centuries before becoming a medical-psychological issue in our current society and culture.
  23. [23]
    The Materiality of English Suicide Letters, c. 1700 – c. 1850
    Oct 18, 2021 · This article explores the contexts in which suicide letters were written and left for others. It looks at how authors used space and other materials to convey ...Missing: earliest ancient
  24. [24]
    Suicide Notes and Popular Sensibility in the Eighteenth-Century ...
    was not the only domain for sentimental suicide. To borrow a phrase from Leslie Stephen, newspapers and magazines of the period also made a "luxury of grief" ...Missing: earliest | Show results with:earliest<|separator|>
  25. [25]
    Communicating Beyond Death: Examining Suicide Letters from ...
    Sep 23, 2023 · Using 67 English and 39 Brazilian letters, it explores the suicide letter as a form of writing. It shows that, although death literally ...
  26. [26]
    [PDF] Suicide Notes and Popular Sensibility in the Eighteenth-Century ...
    Oct 2, 2015 · Goethe's Sorrows of Young Werther (1774, tr. 1779) marks a watershed moment in the literary and cultural history of eighteenth-century ...
  27. [27]
    Suicide Notes Reconsidered t
    SHNEIDMAN, EDWIN S., and FARBEROW, NOR-. MAN L. "The Logic of Suicide," in Clues to. Suicide; McGraw-Hill, 1957 (b); and in The. Psychology of Suicide ...
  28. [28]
    [PDF] Edwin S. Shneidman on Suicide - Suicidology Online
    Mar 8, 2010 · The works on suicide can be divided into five parts: Definitional and Theoretical, Suicide Notes,. Administrative and Programmatic, Clinical and ...
  29. [29]
    Suicide and age: A suicide note analysis. - APA PsycNet
    Tested the hypothesis that suicidal ideation varies with age. 259 suicide notes were analyzed. This represented all of the suicide notes written by individuals ...
  30. [30]
    Suicide Notes and Tragic Lives - 1981 - Wiley Online Library
    Suicide Notes and Tragic Lives ... From Voices of Death (by Edwin Shneidman), 1980, pp. 41–76. Reprinted with permission of Harper and Row. ... Information. PDF.
  31. [31]
    [PDF] suicide-notes.pdf
    In this study, a suicide communi- cation, irrespective of length or the number included in a single inquest file, was counted as only one actual suicide note, ...
  32. [32]
    Suicide Note Classification Using Natural Language Processing
    Aug 4, 2010 · Leenaars A., Balance W. A predictive approach to the study of manifest content in suicide notes. Journal of Clinical Psychology. 1981; 37(1): 50 ...
  33. [33]
    Suicide notes in the courtroom - ScienceDirect
    15. A Leenaars, W Balance. A logical empirical approach to the study of the manifest content in suicide notes.Missing: Antony | Show results with:Antony
  34. [34]
    Edwin Shneidman - The Lancet
    Jul 25, 2009 · He went to the county coroner's office to do some research, and discovered hundreds of suicide notes among death records in a dusty basement.
  35. [35]
    [PDF] Suicide notes from Mexico and the United States: a thematic analysis
    Abstract. Objective. This study sought to investigate suicide notes drawn from Mexico and the United States (US) as these.
  36. [36]
    Their final words: An analysis of suicide notes from the United States
    May 6, 2024 · The present study sought to explore motivations (affective, relationships, life events, injury/medical diagnosis) in suicide notes (N = 49) from the US.Missing: prevalence empirical
  37. [37]
    Suicide notes offer 'unique window' into motives, risks in the elderly
    Oct 14, 2022 · Four major themes emerged in the analysis of the suicide notes. Recurring terms included “pain,” “[poor] sleep,” or “[wakeful] nights,” as well ...Missing: empirical | Show results with:empirical<|separator|>
  38. [38]
    Suicide Note Classification Using Natural Language Processing
    We focus on developing methods of natural language processing that distinguish between genuine and elicited suicide notes.
  39. [39]
    Review Linguistic features of suicidal thoughts and behaviors
    Language is a potential source of predictors for suicidal thoughts and behaviors (STBs), as changes in speech characteristics, communication habits, and word ...
  40. [40]
    [PDF] The characteristics of linguistic features enfolded in suicide notes ...
    The results of her research showed that it is possible for a suicide post written by a prospective victim to later develop into a suicide note if more feature ...
  41. [41]
    The language of suicide notes - ResearchGate
    A study found that genuine and fabricated notes have different linguistic markers, such as expressions of love, guilt, separation, declarations of self-identity ...
  42. [42]
    [PDF] JOURNAL OF APPLIED LINGUISTICS Forensic Stylistic Analysis of ...
    Jul 3, 2024 · This study contributes to the understanding of forensic stylistics and its application in deciphering suicide notes, demonstrating how ...
  43. [43]
    A corpus-based stylistic analysis of online suicide notes retrieved ...
    Mar 6, 2022 · This study examines the stylistic linguistic features of a collection of suicide notes retrieved from the online platform Reddit from the period (2012–2020).
  44. [44]
    [PDF] A Forensic Linguistic Analysis of a Suicide Note
    Oct 29, 2019 · In this regard, forensic linguistic analysis prescribes that authentic suicide notes focus on the mental state of the writer and emotions ...<|separator|>
  45. [45]
    The Linguistic Analysis of Suicide Notes - SpringerLink
    Feb 9, 2022 · This chapter outlines the methodology for analysing the authenticity of suicide notes, with special attention to corpus linguistics and qualitative methods.Missing: scholarly articles
  46. [46]
    Shneidman's Contributions to the Understanding of Suicidal Thinking.
    We explore some of Shneidman's key theoretical, empirical, and clinical contributions to historic as well as contemporary suicidology.Missing: motivations | Show results with:motivations
  47. [47]
    An empirical investigation of Shneidman's formulations regarding ...
    This study of suicide notes involved the deduction of 50 protocol sentences that reflected important aspects of Shneidman's formulations regarding suicide.Missing: analysis | Show results with:analysis
  48. [48]
    Content Analysis of Suicide Notes as a Test of the Motivational ...
    Dec 23, 2011 · Psychological motivations were found to be the most prevalent, followed by relational, spiritual, and somatic concerns. Notes of completed ...
  49. [49]
    Their final words: An analysis of suicide notes from the United States
    May 6, 2024 · The present study sought to explore motivations (affective, relationships, life events, injury/medical diagnosis) in suicide notes (N = 49) ...Missing: peer- reviewed
  50. [50]
    The Interpersonal Nature of Suicide: A Qualitative Investigation of ...
    Aug 9, 2025 · Four themes of suicide completer were discovered: Egoistic Victim, Anomic Hero, Altruistic Professional and Fatalistic Revenger.
  51. [51]
    Why choose the railway? An exploratory analysis of suicide notes ...
    Findings suggest that people select the railway for their suicide for the following motives: perception of being instant and certain and viewed as a good death.<|separator|>
  52. [52]
    Temporal Constriction and the Chronological Collapse of Narrative ...
    Jun 25, 2025 · This study reconceptualizes suicide as a collapse of lived temporality and narrative identity, framing suicidality as a progressive erosion of coherence, ...
  53. [53]
    Differences between suicide note leavers and other suicides
    Persons who wrote suicide notes before they killed themselves were more often female, less often married, found themselves more often in a financial or ...
  54. [54]
    A Comparison of Suicide Note Writers with Suicides Who Did Not ...
    Aug 9, 2025 · The only differences found were that note writers were more likely to have lived alone and had made prior suicide threats. These findings ...
  55. [55]
    Do suicides who write notes differ from those who do not? A study of ...
    Aug 5, 2025 · People who completed suicide in West Berlin and left suicide notes were found to differ in sex, age, method used for suicide and the reason for suicide.
  56. [56]
    Differences between suicide victims who leave notes and those who ...
    Conclusions: Our study showed that there are indeed differences between suicide victims who leave a note and those who do not. We also suggest some explanations ...Missing: empirical leavers
  57. [57]
    [PDF] A QUALITATIVE RESEARCH ON SUICIDE NOTES - METU
    Similarly, another study conducted in India asserted that there is not a great difference between the note leavers and none-note-leavers in terms of demographic ...
  58. [58]
    Are certain groups of people more likely to leave suicide notes? | BPS
    Apr 27, 2016 · Authors say there are some significant differences between suicide victims who leave notes and those who don't and this should be considered by future research.
  59. [59]
    [PDF] Method for authentication of handwritten suicide note
    Dec 16, 2015 · Another approach focused on semantic content of words used in suicide notes by grouping words into linguistic variables (e.g. positive words and ...
  60. [60]
    Determining the effect of emotions on handwriting from suicide notes.
    The main objective of this study is to measure the effect of emotions on the handwriting samples of victims of suicide cases in comparison to their natural ...Missing: techniques | Show results with:techniques
  61. [61]
    Suicide Notes on Unconventional Surface: A Trending Challenge
    This paper presents a review on forensic analysis of handwriting on unconventional surfaces by unconventional writing instruments.
  62. [62]
    EXAMINATION OF HANDWRITING ON AN UNUSUAL SURFACE IN ...
    A successful forensic investigation requires careful assessment of various locations, such as the thighs and other limbs that are accessible for writing in ...
  63. [63]
    [PDF] Linguistic markers in cross-nation suicide notes and their ...
    May 2, 2025 · This study investigates linguistic markers in recent cross-nation suicide notes and their implications for authenticity verification. Grounded ...<|control11|><|separator|>
  64. [64]
    (PDF) Forensic Linguistic Profiling of Suicide Notes: A LIWC-Based ...
    This study investigates the linguistic construction of psychological states in suicide notes through forensic linguistic profiling, using the Linguistic Inquiry ...
  65. [65]
    A Forensic Linguistic Investigation of Mahira's Suicide Note Using ...
    Jul 9, 2025 · This study investigates the authenticity of Mahira Dinabila's suicide note using an exploratory stylometric approach with R Stylo.
  66. [66]
    The cutaneous ink sign: a tipoff to suicide or suicide notes - PubMed
    The presence of smeared or unsmeared ink on the skin resulting from the writing process has been observed in a number of suicide victims who have left ...Missing: dating paper analysis authentication
  67. [67]
    A novel, non-invasive, multi-purpose and comprehensive method to ...
    Dec 15, 2020 · A novel, non-invasive, multi-purpose and comprehensive method to date inks in real handwritten documents based on the monitoring of the dye ageing processes.Missing: authentication | Show results with:authentication
  68. [68]
    [PDF] Understanding Suicide through Notes – Insights from Forensic ...
    Thus, Suicide Note reflects their mind at the time of committing suicide. This three- year retrospective study based on death note in a tertiary centre helps us ...Missing: definition | Show results with:definition
  69. [69]
    Analysis of Suicide Notes: An experience in Eskişehir City - PMC - NIH
    It is estimated that a million people around the world die by suicide each year. It has been reported that a note was left in 5%–43% of the suicides.Missing: 1900-1999 | Show results with:1900-1999
  70. [70]
    The Role of Suicide Notes in Death Investigation - Wiley Online Library
    The note can shed significant light on possible reasons for the suicide (Leenaars, 1999). A suicide is defined as a death caused by the individual's own act.
  71. [71]
    Current Trends Operational Criteria for Determining Suicide - CDC
    Some certifiers require a suicide note to certify a death as suicide. Yet, only about one third of persons who commit suicide leave such notes (11). Forensic ...
  72. [72]
    Method overtness, forensic autopsy, and the evidentiary suicide note
    May 22, 2018 · We tested two hypotheses: (1) an evidentiary suicide note is more likely to accompany suicides by drug-intoxication and by other poisoning, as less violent and ...
  73. [73]
    [PDF] an analysis of the trustworthiness of suicide notes under
    A court must then decide whether a suicide note is admissible under this exception. In 2019, changes to the federal residual exception went into effect. To be ...
  74. [74]
    The Role of Suicide Notes in Death Investigation - ResearchGate
    Aug 10, 2025 · The note left by a suicide victim is a key piece of forensic evidence in the investigation of a sudden death. This article provides some ...
  75. [75]
    March 28, 1941: Virginia Woolf's Suicide Letter and Its Cruel ...
    Mar 28, 2014 · On March 28, 1941, shortly after the devastating dawn of WWII, Virginia Woolf (January 25, 1882–March 28, 1941) filled her overcoat pockets ...Missing: figures | Show results with:figures
  76. [76]
    forensic linguistics analysis of virginia woolf's suicide notes
    Aug 6, 2025 · Abstract ; Virginia Woolf was a British writer. She committed suicide in 1941, leaving suicide notes for her sister ; and her husband. Her suicide ...
  77. [77]
    “My spiritual home destroyed itself”: Stefan Zweig's Suicide Note
    Feb 20, 2022 · The letter with which Stefan Zweig took leave of the world is preserved today in the archives of the National Library of Israel.
  78. [78]
    Declaracão | The National Library of Israel
    Declaracão | The letters were previously stored in the Schwadron autographs collection.;Fritz Weil from Petropolis donated the document in 1992, in memoriam ...
  79. [79]
    Farewell Messages of Getúlio Vargas - Duke University Press
    After the suicide of President Vargas on August 24, 1954, two different farewell documents were found. One of these was a handwritten note which began: “I ...
  80. [80]
    https://www.degruyterbrill.com/document/doi/10.1515/9780822371793-099/html
  81. [81]
    “I Choose This Means to Be With You Always”: Getúlio Vargas's ...
    “To the wrath of my enemies I leave the legacy of my death.” So began a note written in the hand of President Getúlio Vargas and found by one of his aides a ...<|control11|><|separator|>
  82. [82]
    Apparent Hunter S Thompson suicide note published - ABC News
    Sep 9, 2005 · Renegade author Hunter S Thompson lamented the onset of old age and his physical limits, then concluded, "relax - this won't hurt", in an apparent suicide note.
  83. [83]
    Hunter S Thompson's death to be reviewed more than 20 years later
    Oct 1, 2025 · Journalist and author's wife requested 'fresh look' from Colorado bureau of investigation, after his death was ruled a suicide in 2005.
  84. [84]
    Kate Spade Left Suicide Note for Husband and Daughter - People.com
    Jun 5, 2018 · The note the designer left after she hanged herself had messages for her husband and daughter and was meant to explain her actions, ...
  85. [85]
    Read husband's full statement on Kate Spade's suicide - CNN
    Jun 7, 2018 · Andy Spade, the husband of fashion designer Kate Spade, has released a statement saying she suffered from depression and anxiety but that he ...
  86. [86]
    New details emerge about 'General Hospital' star Billy Miller's suicide
    Dec 4, 2023 · New information about the death of Billy Miller, the star of “General Hospital” who died in September by suicide, is revealed.
  87. [87]
    'Young and the Restless' Star Billy Miller's Death Ruled a Suicide
    Dec 5, 2023 · Soap opera star Billy Miller's cause of death has been revealed. The actor's death has been ruled a suicide by gunshot wound to the head, ...Missing: notes | Show results with:notes
  88. [88]
    Lucy-Bleu Knight, Slash's stepdaughter, left suicide note before death
    Sep 10, 2024 · Slash's 25-year-old stepdaughter left behind "a packet" of suicide notes and a warning for first responders before her death. Lucy-Bleu ...
  89. [89]
    Cause and manner of death determined for Lucy-Bleu Knight
    the daughter of Slash's girlfriend Meegan Hodges — died last month from hydrogen sulfide toxicity. The manner of death ...
  90. [90]
    Suicide and the media: Part II. Portrayal in fictional media.
    Reviews 34 studies concerning the relationship between fictional portrayals of suicide and actual suicidal behavior and ideation. Studies of the fictional ...Missing: notes | Show results with:notes
  91. [91]
    Myths about suicide notes. - APA PsycNet
    32 undergraduates were given a collection of matched genuine and simulated suicide notes and were asked to decide which of each pair was genuine.
  92. [92]
    Myths about suicide notes: Death Studies - Taylor & Francis Online
    Furthermore, studies have been unable to isolate what characteristics of suicide notes allow people to perceive a suicide note as genuine.Missing: common | Show results with:common<|separator|>
  93. [93]
    [PDF] The language of suicide notes - University of Birmingham
    Jan 19, 2011 · This thesis reports a study of a corpus of 286 suicide notes collected from the. Birmingham Coroner's Office, with additional findings from 33 ...
  94. [94]
    Suicide or Murder?: Implicit Narratives in the Eddie Gilfoyle Case ...
    Determining the authenticity of the suicide note involved searching for elements of hopelessness in the victim's narrative, as well as aspects of despair ...
  95. [95]
    Gilfoyle, R v | [2001] 2 Cr App R 5 | England and Wales Court of ...
    Several notes and letters, some containing falsehoods about infidelity and paternity, were found, which the prosecution argued were fabricated by the Appellant ...
  96. [96]
    Case Documents - Eddie Gilfoyle
    A copy of the original envelope and suicide letter handwritten by Paula to Eddie. There is also a police typed transcript of the suicide letter.
  97. [97]
    Hope for prisoner as expert recants on wife's suicide letter - The Times
    Feb 25, 2008 · The pioneer of criminal profiling in Britain has switched sides to say that a man he helped to jail for life for murdering his wife is ...
  98. [98]
    (PDF) The Vincent Foster "suicide note." Did Strategic Enterprises ...
    An assessment of claims by three handwriting experts who asserted that the Vincent Foster suicide note was a forgery is examined.
  99. [99]
    The Vincent Foster "Suicide Note": did Strategic Enterprises ...
    In 1995, Strategic Enterprises released a document containing the reports of 3 purported handwriting experts, stating that the suicide note of former Deputy ...Missing: famous cases disputed
  100. [100]
    Exploring the possibility of using appraisal theory to determine the ...
    The aim of the current study is threefold: firstly, to determine whether there is a difference between the linguistic characteristics of authentic suicide notes ...Missing: famous | Show results with:famous
  101. [101]
    Revealing semantic and emotional structure of suicide notes with ...
    We show that suicide notes are affectively compartmentalized such that positive concepts tend to cluster together and dominate the overall network structure.Missing: interpretive | Show results with:interpretive
  102. [102]
    A Thematic Analysis of Suicide Notes | Crisis - Hogrefe eContent
    This study applied the TGSP to suicide notes (n = 45), interpreted in the light of coroner's inquest papers, drawn from a Northern Irish population.
  103. [103]
    https://www.researchgate.net/publication/12748208_A_Thematic_Analysis_of_Suicide_Notes