[Exceptional suicide of a physician (author's transl)]

Abstract

A 57 years old psychiatrist committed suicide through insufflation of powder from a chemical fire extinguisher his respiratory and gastrointestinal tract. Death was due not to mechanically induced asphyxia but to asystolia. The latter disturbance is explained as a vagal reaction to trauma because of the characteristic position of the corpse at the scene and because the victim did not exhibit any signs of gas or foreign body embolism. A further point of interest in the context of trauma mechanism, is the absence of significant disruptions in spite of the high pressure (10-12 atu) developed by the extinguisher. No conclusive interpretation can be given about the psychological mechanisms behind this suicidal act. On the other side the modality of the procedure used by the victim became manifest already a few months before the critical act.