Some fields of study, such as
sociology,
psychiatry and
graphology, have investigated the reasons why people who complete or attempt suicide leave a note. The most common reasons that people contemplating suicide choose to write a suicide note include one or more of the following: • To ease the pain of those known to the victim by attempting to dissipate guilt. • To increase the pain of survivors by attempting to create guilt. • To set out the reason(s) for suicide. • To send a message to the world. • To express thoughts and feelings that the person felt unable to express in life. • To give instructions for disposal of the remains. • Occasionally, to confess acts of murder or some other offense. Sometimes there is also a message in the case of
murder–suicide, explaining the reason(s) for the murder(s); see, for example,
Marc Lépine's suicide statement and
videotaped statements of the 7 July 2005 London bombers. ==See also==