[Suicidal methods--a comparison between East and West Germany. Epidemiological, forensic and sociomedical aspects]

A comparative study of the means of suicide in West and East Germany is extremely difficult both because of the data stock and the methodological questions that arise. This examination analyses means of suicide used during the following years: 1962-1964, 1987-1989 and 2000-2002. Accordingly, there is a similar pattern in both East and West for type of suicide committed and distinct developmental parallelism in applying the suicide methods. Certain means of suicide are more prominent (e. g. "hanging", "falling from a height") while others decrease in significance (e. g. "drowning"). No link was found between means of suicide and "society order". The use of a certain means of suicide depends on "availability", "existence" or "accessibility" of opportunities to commit suicide in the everyday environment. The same trend towards an increase of "hard" means of suicide was noted. The ways in which suicide is committed are becoming increasingly alike, but in the East it is apparent that people adhere more to "traditional" means of suicide.