Suicide by jumping from height

As a suicide prevention initiative, signs on the Golden Gate Bridge promote special telephones that connect to a crisis hotline, as well as a 24/7 crisis text line.

Suicide by jumping from height is a common suicide method where a person jumps and falls from a dangerous location, such as from a high window, balcony, or roof, or from a cliff, dam, or bridge. The 2023 ICD-10-CM diagnosis code for jumping from a high place is X80*, and this method of suicide is also known clinically as autokabalesis. Many countries have noted suicide bridges such as the Nanjing Yangtze River Bridge and the Golden Gate Bridge. Other well known suicide sites for jumping include the Eiffel Tower and Niagara Falls.

People surviving their jump typically experience paralysis and coma as a result of their injuries.

Jumping is the most common method of suicide in Hong Kong, accounting for 52.1% of all reported cases in 2006; such high rates may partially be the result of the city's abundance of high-rise buildings.

In the United States, jumping is among the least common methods of suicide (less than 2% of all reported suicides in 2005). However, in a 75-year period to 2012, there had been around 1,400 suicides at the Golden Gate Bridge. In New Zealand, secure fencing at the Grafton Bridge substantially reduced the rate of suicides.

Some survivors from suicide attempts report the belief that death from falling being an instantaneous process. However, it is common for jumpers to die from other causes, such as drowning or hypothermia from the cold waters after falling from a bridge.

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.