Understanding Para-Suicides: A Personal Perspective

Four months prior to Kirk’s attempted carbon monoxide poisoning, a suicide attempt best described as an inchoate suicide, he attempted a para suicide. This first attempt was made through chasing a handful of Percocet with a bottle of whisky shortly after sending a suicidal text message to his sister. Kirk became sick from the mixture and ended up being taken to the hospital by his sister, shortly after consuming the cocktail of pills and alcohol. This suicide pursuit resulted in having his stomach pumped and a referral written for psychiatric help. Prior to this course, I was not enlightened towards the concept of para-suicide. Though, I had considered that some individuals attempt suicide without the intention of ending their life, I remained unaware that there was a substantial amount of knowledge and understanding about what para suicides are. In the same way, acquiring knowledge about the many forms of suicide has helped me understand the significant differences between Kirk’s attempts.

This learning theory conveys that life and everything that an individual encounters throughout life (C&M 2011), imprints on them and provides acquired information about behaviors through learning and imitation (Curra 2014). Fundamentally, differential reinforcement theory can be applied towards suicide through an individuals suicide attempt by evoking certain reactions from others, such as sympathy, concern and added attention. Consequently, the individual develops an ability to generate desired responses from others, in turn reinforcing the suicidal behaviors. Additionally, differential reinforcement theory suggests that the individual who attempts or completes suicide has learned what suicide is through learning about others who have committed the action. With this view, it is possible to begin to make since on why Kirk had attempted suicide twice in a short