Bleeding
See also: Self-injurySuicide by exsanguination involves reducing the volume and pressure of the blood to below critical levels by inducing massive blood loss. It is usually the result of damage inflicted on arteries. The carotid, radial, ulnar or femoral arteries may be targeted. Death may occur directly as a result of the desanguination of the body or via hypovolemia, wherein the blood volume in the circulatory system becomes too low and results in the body shutting down.
| Juliet: O happy dagger! This is thy sheath. There rust, and let me die. |
| – Romeo and Juliet, Act V, Scene III |
Persons considering a suicide attempt, or trying out the weapon to ascertain its effectiveness, may first make shallow cuts, referred to as "hesitation wounds" or "tentative wounds" in the literature. They are often non-lethal, multiple parallel cuts.
Read more about this topic: Tentative Wound
Famous quotes containing the word bleeding:
“its crumbled yellow cup
and pale bleeding lips
fading to white
at the rim
of each bruised and heart-
shaped petal.”
—John Montague (b. 1929)
“The wounded surgeon plies the steel
That questions the distempered part;
Beneath the bleeding hands we feel
The sharp compassion of the healer’s art
Resolving the enigma of the fever chart.”
—T.S. (Thomas Stearns)
“O, pardon me, thou bleeding piece of earth,
That I am meek and gentle with these butchers!”
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616)