Suicide Pact: Till Death Do Us Part….

Abstract

Background: Suicide pacts are always tragic though they remain under-identified and under-reported. History and fiction are full of them, though they would only represent less than one percent of all suicides in Occident. A suicide pact is an agreement made between two or more people to commit suicide together and requires a reciprocal consent but also intent, volition and capability. Victims, motivations and operating methods are multiple, and continue to diversify even more with Internet and social media. How can we identify people at risk?

Subjects and methods: Between November 2023 and May 2024, a literature search based on electronic bibliographic databases as well as other sources of information (grey literature) was conducted in order to investigate the most recent data on suicide pacts and especially how they evolved with Internet and social media.

Results: Different categories of suicide pacts can be made, but the typical template for a prospective suicide pact describes as two withdrawn individuals, in a tight and close relationship, who feel ensnared in a desperate and unmitigable situation.

Conclusions: Prevention can done at various levels, but screening individuals who fit the profile for risk would certainly be a start. To identify a suicide pact, forensics, criminology and sociology need to be considered.