A Hospital Chaplain Views Suicide (IN: Identifying Suicide Potential, ed. by D B Anderson and L J McLean)

The author sees the overt and specific act of suicide as the cap on top of a pyramid of covert and symbolic behaviour. Most sickness is a form of suicide that can result when the conditions of life become intolerable for those who are inhibited from resorting to overt specific ways of ending life. A cherishing, helping relationship is the road to salvation and the answer to many potential suicides.