Suicide pact

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A suicide pact describes the suicides of two or more individuals in an agreed-upon plan. The plan may be to die together, or separately and closely timed. Suicide pacts are important concepts in the study of suicide, and have occurred throughout history, as well as in fiction. After any suicide attempt or death it is important to establish whether anyone else knew about the suicide plan in advance, in order to determine whether a suicide pact may be involved.

Suicide pacts are distinct from mass suicide. The latter involves incidents in which a (usually) large number of people kill themselves together for the same ideological reason, often within a religious, political, military, and/or paramilitary context (see Mass Suicide). Suicide pacts, on the other hand, usually involve small groups of people (such as married or romantic partners, family members, or friends) whose motivations are intensely personal and individual. To date, the largest known number of people to die in a single group suicide pact is seven. [1]

A suicide pact negotiated over the internet, often between complete strangers, is an Internet suicide.

[edit] New group-suicide method: Charcoal

Another focus of the media reports on group suicide pacts is a new and unique method of suicide that is being utilized in Japan (and gradually spreading elsewhere), one that is particularly popular among those committing group suicide -- carbon monoxide poisoning achieved by burning charcoal briquettes (or other fossil fuels) in BBQ grills or stoves within an enclosed area, such as a small sealed room, tent, or car. The Japan Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare reports that “group suicide through gas inhalation increased in 2003, with 3,538 people involved, up by 2,024 from 2002." [2] Many Japanese media outlets report on suicides by charcoal-produced carbon-monoxide poisoning, referring to it as a “new method of suicide." A 2001 psychiatric article [3] reports that suicides via charcoal-produced carbon-monoxide poisoning were “unheard of in Hong Kong” before the first case in that country was sensationalized by the media in 1998. The victim in that case “reportedly learned of the method from a Chinese film.” The article reports that suicide-by-charcoal cases in Hong Kong have risen dramatically and steadily since 1998, and concludes that, due to intense media coverage of such cases, a “copycat effect” is a contributing factor.

There is little doubt that recent cases of internet-related suicide-by-charcoal pacts that have occurred outside of Japan -- such as the February 2005 suicide of two young people in the UK, reported by the media as the UK’s “first online suicide pact” [4] -- have been directly influenced by media reports of similar incidents occurring in Japan. It remains to be seen whether such suicide pacts are just a “passing trend” or will increase and/or spread over time.