Projective identification and suicide contagion

Abstract

The effect of suggestion on suicide is well established. However, the intrapsychic mechanisms of the contagion of suicides are poorly understood. In this article I first present the literature about suicide clustering and about projective identification. In the following clinical vignette I try to understand a patient's suicidal behaviour, referring to William Goldstein's clarifying model of projective identification. I aim to illustrate that his model has heuristic value in the treatment of suicidal patients when the effect of suggestion or identification is suspected.