International Journal of Emergency Mental Health and Human Resilience
Open Access

Abstract

The suicide note (or letter) is a written message left by a person who committed suicide or attempted suicide. In France, the percentage of left letters is estimated 25%-30% of the total number of suicides. These letters contain information relevant both to the study of pathologies associated with suicidality and to the prevention of suicide and recidivism. The predictability of the suicidal act is very variable and there is no consensus regarding the psychological portrait of suicidal subjects. However, different profiles and risk factors have been identified by medical research, notably through “predictive linguistic autopsy”. This method is based on the collection and analysis of writings (suicide notes and messages) in order to better understand the motivations and circumstances surrounding his or her suicidal attempt or death. At present, suicide notes and messages are used primarily for legal purposes but little or no study is done to investigate the « autopsy of life ». In France, this first-hand material is often available online (on the Internet and social networks) but has never been collected or studied extensively in order to monitor suicide and prevent recidivism. The intentionality and the motivation of the subjects who attempt suicide after posting their note online remain little known, and the publications on this topic are very rare. To date, there is no French clinical study on suicidal letters based on a predictive linguistic approach. This communication aims at presenting the results of a study conducted in 2018 on more than 100 notes in order to detect, through words and posted messages, the subject’s intentionality, suicidal ideation, the aggravating or precipitating circumstances, as well as the presence of psychiatric pathologies or other comorbidities. In order to better prevent suicide and recidivism, all suicide letters posted online during the last year (2018) have been documented and studied using a monitoring system based on predictive linguistics. The main objective is to study the content of the suicide notes and messages from a patholinguistic point of view in order to detect signs of suicidal crisis, to monitor and to prevent suicidal behavior. Secondary objectives include the study of indicators of suicidal intent, the study of linguistic markers of gravity and psychic pain, as well as the study of signs of depression related to suicidal behavior. Ultimately, the goal is to carry out detection and prevention actions upstream, with innovative means resulting from predictive linguistics tools such as electronic monitoring of suicidal intentions, and remote monitoring of suicidal patients.

Biography

Mathieu Guidere has completed his Ph.D. at the age of 27 years from The Sorbonne University (Paris, France) and postdoctoral studies from The University of Lyon (France). Since 2016, he is Full Professor at the University of Paris (Paris VIII, France) and Research director at the French National Institute of Health and Medical Research (INSERM, France), but he has held professorships at such prestigious institutions including the University of Geneva, Switzerland (2007 to 2011), and the French Military Academy of Saint-Cyr, France (2003–2007). He is the co-inventor of the Cognitive Computing and the director of the AI mental health research program. He has been the keynote speaker at the International First Responder Military Symposium and the organizer of the European Symposium on Psycho-Trauma and PTSD.

E-mail: mathieu.guidere@univ-paris8.fr