Think of the sense of accomplishment you feel when you complete a big project.

What’s Wrong with the Term “Completed Suicide” I explained my objections to the term in this post, and they bear repeating. I urge people not to use the term “completed” suicide.

Some people advocate for using the term “completed suicide” instead.

With that said, I prefer the term “died by suicide” because it avoids the judgmental connotations of “committed suicide.” If changing our language can help suicidal people to feel safer asking for help, then changing language can save lives. Some will deride this discussion of suicide terminology as political correctness gone awry. I love language, and I also love discussing its intricacies. We now live in a time when we seek to understand people who experience suicidal ideation, behaviours and attempts, and to treat them with compassion rather than condemn them.” “Completed Suicide” vs. “Suicide is not a sin and is no longer a crime, so we should stop saying that people ‘commit’ suicide. This stigma, in turn, can deter people from seeking help from friends, family, and professionals.Īs Susan Beaton and colleagues note in their article, “Suicide and Language: Why We Shouldn’t Use the ‘C’ Word”: To portray suicide as a crime or sin stigmatizes those who experience suicidal thoughts or attempt suicide. Rather, the act of suicide almost always is the product of mental illness, intolerable stress, pain, or trauma. Suicide itself might be bad, yes, but the person who dies by suicide is not committing a crime or sin. Someone commits burglary, or murder, or rape, or perjury, or adultery, or crime – or something else bad. People in the suicide prevention field discourage the use of the term “committed suicide.” The verb “commit” (when followed by an act) is generally reserved for actions that many people view as sinful or immoral.

Stace Kramer 50 Days Before My Suicide