An Examination of Shneidman’s Application of Henry Murray’s Classification of Needs to Suicidal Individuals

30 suicidal deaths were examined for the presence of needs described by Henry Murray. The most common needs identified were harmavoidance & infavoidance. Other needs were rarely present & typically only in unusual suicides such as double suicides or seppuku. (3 refs)

Theories of Suicidal Behavior Applied to Sylvia Plath

The suicide of Sylvia Plath is examined from the perspectives of 15 theories of suicidal behaviour including: Adler, Beck, Binswanger, Freud, Henry & Short, Jung, Kelly, Leenaars, Lester, Maris, Menninger, Murray, Shneidman, Sullivan, & Zilboorg. Plath’s suicide is found to fit best with psychoanalytic & cognitive theories of suicide, in particular those of Aaron Beck, […]