Methods of suicide

GUNSHOT SUICIDES - more common in rural areas. Farmers and those in the armed-services are over-represented.

There have been relatively few studies of UK gunshot suicides. These have found that most gunshot suicides are male, often in their 40s and living with a partner, and involve the use of shotguns. They are less likely to have current or past mental health problems than people who commit suicide by other methods.

Some gunshot suicides appear to be impulsive and many to have been precipitated by a recent relationship dispute.

APOCARTERESIS(suicide by starvation) - used by Hindu, Jain and Buddhist monks as a ritual method of suicide. Albigensians or Cathars also fasted after receiving the 'consolamentum' sacrament, in order to die while in a morally perfect state.

SELF-POISONING - the most common method of suicide by women and the second most common by men in the UK.

JUMPING FROM BRIDGES - The impact from jumping off a great enough height can shatter organs and tissues. If a person jumps from a tall bridge into water, the person may die by impact rather than by drowning. Such jumping off the Golden Gate Bridge, of which there have been 1,300 incidents between 1937 and 2006, was depicted in the documentary film The Bridge.

The 70 m (225 ft) plunge from the Golden Gate Bridge has proven to be fatal in 98% of cases. The jumper would hit the water at 120 km/h (about 75 mph). Most die of internal bleeding due to broken ribs which pierce the heart, lungs, liver or spleen. Survivors, who generally have hit the water feet-first, have often had their femurs shattered.

Authorities have tried to prevent jumping suicides by building fences or other barriers in potential areas, such as high towers and bridges. In some areas authorities have also installed telephones which link directly to suicide prevention hot lines.

HANGING - the prevalent means of suicide in pre-industrial societies and is still more common in rural rather than urban areas.

DROWNING - among the least common methods (typically less than 2% of all reported suicides in the United States for 2005).