title: Car accidents as a method of suicide: a comprehensive overview.
abstract: The research literature provides evidence on the possible link between single-car accident drivers and suicidal intent, and some scholars have stressed the role of unconscious suicidal motivations in some single-car accidents. This paper review relevant literature on the topic and sheds light on neglected factors that may play a central role in reducing the number of deaths due to car accidents. We performed careful PubMed, and PsycInfo searches to identify all papers and book chapters in English during the period 1955-2011. Our overview of the literature indicates that above 2% of the traffic accidents are suicide behaviors. However, the phenomenon may be underreported, considering that suicides by car accidents may be reported as accidental in the national statistics. On the other hand, the association between accident-pronesses and unconscious self-destructive impulses is an issue that is difficult to solve.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurosciences, Mental Health and Sensory Organs, Suicide Prevention Center, Department of Psychiatry, Sant'Andrea Hospital, Sapienza University of Rome, Italy. maurizio.pompili@uniroma1.it
authors.forename: Maurizio
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Pompili
authors.forename: Gianluca
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Serafini
authors.forename: Marco
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Innamorati
authors.forename: Franco
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Montebovi
authors.forename: Mario
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Palermo
authors.forename: Sandra
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Campi
authors.forename: Henry
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Stefani
authors.forename: Gloria
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Giordano
authors.forename: Ludovica
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Telesforo
authors.forename: Mario
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Amore
authors.forename: Paolo
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Girardi
mesh_terms: D000057:Accident Proneness; D000063:Accidents, Traffic; D005555:Forensic Psychiatry; D006801:Humans; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000523:psychology; D010551:Personality; D012309:Risk-Taking; D059020:Suicidal Ideation; D013405:Suicide