Suicide Methods - Bleeding

Bleeding

See also: Self-injury

Suicide 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.

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