[Recent aspects of the suicide problem (author's transl)].

The problem of suicide is linked not only with psychiatric and psychological aspects, but also with sociological, ethical and legal, philosophical and theological problems. Significantly results of suicide research are represented by the psychoanalytic aspects of suicide as a conflict of aggression and narcissistic crisis, as well as by the description of the "presuicidal syndrome" (Ringel) and the structural analysis of the suicidal event. Today, suicidal syndromes are strikingly frequent among adolescents, the aged, drug addicts, dipsomaniacs and alcohol and other addicts in general as well as among psychotic patients. It is often particularly difficult to assess suicidality. Quite frequently the suicidal patient taxes the therapist's resources to a very high degree. Prevention of suicide must be considered as an important psychiatric and social challenge; the goal should be to correct the inner attitude of the person concerned and to influence and change the conditioning factors of the social environment. All preventive measures can be considered meaningful and justified only if they are directed not only at the preservation of life but also at the quality of the life led by the persons considered as suicide risks.