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Naked Suicide

Naked Suicide | Journal of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law

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Marilyn Monroe was found lying nude, face down, with a sheet pulled over her dead body.1 After much publicity and controversy, the coroner ruled that she had died of acute barbiturate poisoning by overdose. The controversy about the cause of her death continues to this day. The naked body of Robert Maxwell, billionaire British tycoon, was found floating some distance from his yacht in the waters off Grand Canary Island. Maxwell was facing a scandal on his return to England involving the disappearance of corporate assets and pension fund monies. Although his death was ruled an accidental drowning, there was much doubt about the cause of his death. Theories of his demise included murder, suicide, heart attack, and accident. Cleopatra completed suicide shortly after Mark Antony fell on his sword. The legend is that she committed suicide by allowing herself to be bitten by a poisonous snake, an asp. A famous painting by the French artist Jean Andre´ Rixens (1846 –1924) depicts

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PubMed | Naked Suicide

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Abstract

Suicide attempts and completions by individuals while naked remain unexplored, both by clinicians and in the professional literature. Nakedness at the time of the incident conveys important information about an individual's mental state. Motivations for attempting or completing suicide while naked are discussed. Nakedness during a suicide attempt is presumptive evidence of high risk for suicide completion. Deliberate self-harm, without intent to die, is not usually inflicted while naked. The clinical and forensic implications of naked suicide are explored. In completed suicides, the state of dress, including partial undress and nakedness may provide important clues in a psychological autopsy. Forensic psychiatrists and treating clinicians who encounter naked suicides are afforded a unique opportunity to advance our knowledge. Letters to the editor and case reports would stimulate discourse about this little understood phenomenon...

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