Dr. Schneidman states that the lethal suicide act consists of 3 main components & a “triggering” process. The first element is a life pattern of inimicality (a self-destructive life style); the second is the presence of an agitated psychological state he terms perturbation; & the third element is a constriction, a cognitive state of limited perception. The fourth or triggering element is the idea of cessation, that death is the solution to the inimicality-perturbation-constriction conflict.