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Between Lines and Loss: Reflections on Suicide Notes as a Textual Genre and as Messages
Giacomo Belli1, Annalisa Sofia1, Mateus Eduardo Romáo2
1Unit of Legal Medicine, Department of Public Health, Experimental and Forensic Medicine, University of Pavia, Pavia, Italy.
Omega
|July 29, 2026
Summary
Suicide notes are structured communications, not just private despair. They reveal how individuals express distress, manage relationships, and provide instructions during crises, impacting mental health communication.
Area of Science:
- Psycholinguistics
- Communication Studies
- Mental Health Research
Background:
- Suicide notes offer unique insights into psychological distress and crisis communication.
- Understanding their structure and function is crucial for mental health and suicide prevention efforts.
Purpose of the Study:
- To review the formal characteristics, thematic content, and communicative functions of suicide notes.
- To synthesize findings from studies analyzing the linguistic, structural, and communicative dimensions of suicide notes.
Main Methods:
- Systematic review of 15 studies meeting inclusion criteria.
- Analysis focused on linguistic, structural, and communicative aspects of suicide notes.
Main Results:
- Suicide notes exhibit consistent rhetorical structures (salutations, explanations, instructions, farewells).
- They serve relational and pragmatic functions, including emotional disclosure, forgiveness requests, affection, and expressions of burden or hopelessness.
- Digital communication impacts the circulation and ethical handling of these notes.
Conclusions:
- Suicide notes are complex communicative acts, not solely private expressions of despair.
- Interdisciplinary research is needed for practical applications in mental health communication and suicide prevention strategies.
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