Hanging - As Suicide

As Suicide

Main article: Suicide by hanging See also: List of people who died by hanging

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 very simple yet highly effective suicide method. Full suspension is not required, and for this reason hanging is especially commonplace among suicidal prisoners (see suicide watch). A type of hanging comparable to full suspension hanging may be obtained by self-strangulation using a ligature around the neck and the partial weight of the body (partial suspension) to tighten the ligature. When a suicidal hanging involves partial suspension, the victim is found to have both feet touching the ground e.g. they are kneeling, crouching or standing.

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 the United Kingdom, 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).