Suicide by hanging
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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Hanging is the prevalent means of suicide in pre-industrial societies and is more common in rural rather than urban areas.
Unlike the traditional capital punishment by hanging on gallows where the condemned falls through the release of a trap door and death is relatively quick due to breaking of the neck, a suicide may not have made provision for a sufficient drop and thus, instead, suffers a much slower death by strangulation.
Hanging is a common method for committing suicide. The materials necessary for suicide by hanging are easily available to the average person, compared with firearms or lethal poison. It is a deceptively simple yet highly effective suicide method. Full suspension is not required, and for this reason hanging is especially commonplace among suicidal prisoners. A type of hanging comparable to full suspension hanging may be obtained by self-strangulation using a ligature of the neck and only partial weight of the body (partial suspension). This method is dependent on unconsciousness produced by arterial blood flow restriction while the breath is held.
In Canada, hanging is the most common method of suicide, and in the U.S., hanging is the second most common method, after firearms. In Great Britain, where firearms are less easily available, as of 2001 hanging was the most common method among men and the second-most commonplace among women (after poisoning).
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