This article provides a framework for understanding & assessing the psychological factors of suicidal behavior. The author discusses the importance of perturbation & lethality levels. He also describes the 10 commonalities of suicide, such as: the common purpose of suicide is to seek a solution; the common stimulus is intolerable psychological pain; the common cognitive state is ambivalence; & the common consistency is with life-long coping patterns. He also outlines a cubic model of suicide.