Jumping, lying, wandering: Analysis of suicidal behaviour patterns in 1,004 suicidal acts on the German railway net

Abstract

Current knowledge on behavioural patterns and personal characteristics of subjects who choose the railway as means of suicide is sparse. The aim of this study was to determine the frequency of three distinct behaviour patterns (jumping, lying, wandering) in railway suicides and to explore associated variables. Cases were derived from the National Central Registry of person accidents on the German railway net covering the period from 2002 to 2006. A retrospective analysis of registry protocols of all 4127 suicidal acts allowed classification of behaviour patterns in 1004 cases. Types of suicidal behaviour occurred with nearly equal frequencies; jumping in 32.2%, lying in 32.6% and wandering in 34.2% of cases. Age and sex were not associated with type of suicidal behaviour. The proportion of jumping was highest during 9:01 am to 6:00 pm while at night, lying was used most frequently. Jumping predominated in the station area, while lying and wandering on the open track. Fatality was highest in liers and lowest in jumpers. The frequency of jumping decreased during the study period by 12.6% (p < .05). These findings may help to elucidate differential risk features of this highly lethal suicide method.

Introduction

Railway suicide attempts lead to a lethal outcome in approximately 90% of all cases (De Leo and Krysinska, 2008, Erazo et al., 2005, Krysinska and De Leo, 2008), with markedly lower fatality rates in attempts outside a railway station (Erazo et al., 2005, Schmidtke, 1994) or on subway systems (Krysinska and De Leo, 2008, Ladwig and Baumert, 2004, Ladwig et al., 2009, Ratnayake et al., 2007). The majority of subjects committing train suicides have a documented history of psychiatric disorder and previous suicide attempts; many were undergoing psychiatric treatment at the time of death (De Leo and Krysinska, 2008, Mishara, 1999, van Houwelingen and Kerkhof, 2008).

Doubtlessly, suicide prevention is hard to accomplish, however possible (Ohayon, 2009). Railway suicide prevention efforts include structural means, like inhibiting access to the track, and communicative means, e.g. using announcements in trains that inform passengers about a critical train incident without infecting them with news about suicide. Furthermore, suicide prevention on railway tracks partly lies in the opportunity to recognize suicidal behaviour prior to the suicidal act e.g. by other train drivers (who can be trained) or station personnel observing the scene warning train drivers of approaching trains. Or, more visionary, by computer programs using algorithms recognizing persons at risk by automatic cameras.

Not all train suicide attempts end up in death, but psychological autopsy studies and research with surviving attempters show a very high intent to die. Most attempters expect this to be a certain and painless death (Mishara, 1999, O’Donnell et al., 1996). However, despite this subjective certainty regarding intentionality and outcome, the decision on how to commit train suicide reveals some ambivalence, as the attempters have to decide on how exactly to carry out their suicide attempt.

In their classic study of 50 subjects who attempted suicide in the subway, Guggenheim and Weisman (1972) described four distinct patterns of suicidal behaviour on railway tracks. They termed the people showing these behaviours as jumpers, liers, touchers, and wanderers. Jumpers, those who leap or tumble directly in front of an approaching train, were in the majority and accounted for 64% of cases. Liers are those individuals who lie down across the tracks, awaiting the train; they accounted for 12% of all cases. A proportion of 10% were touchers who get into contact with the electrical conduct and are killed by electrocution. Finally, 14% of cases were wanderers who walk along the track, waiting for the train to come. There was a slight majority of men who jump and lie across the track, while only women used touching. A number of 50% of those jumping were killed, but only one death occurred among the remaining suicidal behaviour patterns.

Since the publication of Guggenheim and Weisman in 1972, only few studies, with restricted sample sizes, have focused on these distinctive suicidal behaviour patterns. In a Swedish study (Rådbo et al., 2005) with 145 suicidal acts on the railway, the majority of victims (45%) was standing or walking on the tracks, 35% were lying or sitting on tracks, and jumping or running in front of the train ranked third (14%). A small Australian study found eight jumpers, eight liers, and one wanderer (Emmerson and Cantor, 1993). In a recent Australian study (De Leo and Krysinska, 2008), comprising 161 railway suicides, most victims (47%) were sitting or lying on the track. About 20% jumped in front of an approaching train, and 20% were hit by a train while standing or walking on the rail line. In a negligible minority of cases, other methods were used, like crashing the car against an oncoming train. A few other studies reported further, more uncommon methods like jumping out of a train (Schmidtke, 1994), jumping from a bridge onto railroad (Schmidtke, 1994, Symonds, 1994), or decapitation, i.e. an extraordinary variant of lying on the tracks placing the head over the rail (Symonds, 1994). Interestingly, since the report of Guggenheim and Weisman (1972), no study has investigated possible correlates or predictors of these suicidal behaviours. As our own work revealed that environmental variables like location and temporal variation (Erazo et al., 2005) as well as personal factors like sex (Erazo et al., 2004) are associated with the outcome and the frequency of railway suicides, we were interested in associations among types of suicidal behaviour and these variables.

The aim of this study was to determine the frequency and time trend of distinctive behavioural patterns in railway suicides in Germany during a five-year period using national registry data, and to explore environmental and personal variables associated with the occurrence of these types of suicidal behaviour.