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Perhaps no subject is more important in psychiatry than that of suicide. Suicide is the leading cause of death in young people worldwide. Preventing or lessening its frequency can impact millions of lives.
Suicide by Self-Immolation is a landmark study on the act of burning oneself as a means of suicide. It brings together leading experts in the field to cover this critical and understudied subject in a comprehensive and scholarly fashion. As noted in her excellent Foreword, Helen Herman, M.D., past President of the World Psychiatric Association and Director of the WHO Collaborating Center in Mental Health, notes, “The book gives rare access to the subject of suicide by self-immolation in all its complexity and challenge” (v).
The introductory chapter by César Alfonso, M.D., and Prabha Chandra, M.D., provides an in-depth view of transcultural aspects of the subject. A clear reckoning of facts, such as suicide accounting for one million deaths annually worldwide, being the leading cause of death in persons 15-24 years of age, and occurring more prevalently in lower- and middle-income countries (LAMIC), especially among young women who are abused or oppressed, gives a sense of the gravity of the issue.
Psychiatric diagnosis associated with self-immolation, such as psychotic disorders, major depressive disorder, and PTSD, give only a unidimensional picture of the act. One must consider it in its various social, religious, political, and historical dimensions. For example, self-immolation in China took on a political purpose, and one of protest among Vietnamese and Tibetan monks. Gender and specifically violence against women also play a role, especially in countries such as Iran and Afghanistan.
Identifying risk factors is important to prevent suicide. These are not only based in DSM nomenclature but informed by motivation and meaning of the act. Psychosocial determinants include poverty, war, marital and family issues, and being female. Psychodynamic factors in individual