Two cases of attempted suicide are described, and the means by which the suicide was attempted are related to material produced during analysis. It became evident that there was a close relationship between the method of suicide and the unconscious material. The interpretation of the would-be suicide cannot neglect this relation. In one case of poisoning oral material was prominent in analysis, and the attempt could be understood as a defence against persecuting oral phantasies. In the other case the suicide was attempted by strangulation, and this could be interpreted as an attack against the father's voice, which was the object of one of the greatest fears of the patient's childhood.

Author's Abstract.