Expert and lay Explanations of Suicidal Behaviour: Comparison of the General Population’s, Suicide Attempters’, General Practitioners’ and Psychiatrists’ Views

The aims of this study were to identify explanatory models of suicidal behaviour & to determine possible incompatabilities between lay (general public & suicide attempters) & expert (general practitioners & psychiatrists) views. Five explanatory models were identified: personality, sociological, medical, crisis, & genetic. Significant group differences on the explanatory models were found with lay people favouring crisis, sociological, & medical models & the experts sharing belief in the medical, genetic, & crisis models.