From studies and interviews with Stockholm hospital patients shortly after their suicide attempts, Hendin postulates several complex relationships between suicide and the standard of living—both rated high in present-day Sweden. The early separation of the child from his mother stimulates anger, the control of which requires much detachment. Later, competitive performance salves the man's deflated self-esteem and may channel an outlet for aggression. But even with small upsets the affective detachment, based on the need to control aggression, offers a fertile soil for suicide. The woman has the same difficulties in dealing with aggression, and usually cannot get from the preoccupied man the relationship she needs for her self-esteem; both lose interest. In severe cases the patient may become paranoid.