An Essay on Loss of Self versus Escape from Self in Suicide: Illustrative Cases from Diaries left by those who died by Suicide

Michael Chandler (1994) has described how suicide can result from a loss of a sense of self, while Roy Baumeister (1990) has described how suicide can be an attempt to escape from the self. Their published theories are presented in a very abstract manner, and the present essay presents examples from two individuals who died by suicide who expressed these themes in their diaries. Loss of a sense of self is illustrated by the diary of an 18-year-old, and escape from self is illustrated by the diary of a professor, both of whom died by suicide.