[The psychopathology of suicidal tendencies]

Suicidality should not, in consideration of the present studies and the experience gained by the author, be considered a disease 'sui generis', but rather a symptom only. The etiopathogenesis of "nonpsychotic" suicidality is discussed with particular reference to the psychopathology thereof. Acts of suicide are most often part of "lasting affective reactions". In a certain number of cases suicidality is the symptom of an emotional disturbance or functional nervous disease resulting from psychic maldevelopment, which is usually characterized by a relatively small number of general symptoms and where conscious acts are impaired by unconscious conflicts.