Throughout centuries, suicide has had different connotations in different cultural environments. From the historical perspective it is interesting as it reflects values, fears and prejudices of the societies in each period. In the period under consideration those who would commit suicide transformed from criminals and sinners into patients: suicide was decriminalised in accordance with the civilizational norms and moved into the area of social pathology (along with alcoholism, idleness, adolescent unrest, and certain sexual deviations), only to later finally become a choice that enabled people to take the process of dying into their own hands instead of surrendering it to fate or coincidence. Over the course of centuries, suicide has undergone diverse conceptualizations with indistinct cultural contexts. A historical examination of suicide proves intriguing, as it serves as a reflective mirror showcasing the values, fears, and prejudices prevailing in societies during each epoch.

The symposium provides us with the opportunity to discuss how attitudes towards suicide have changed and how the phenomenon of suicide was perceived by the different segments of society: how did psychiatrists, social scientists, jurists, theologists, politicians, the media and the public opinion search for and interpret the various reasons for the increasing suicide rates through the period under consideration. We also seek to determine whether and to which extent the suicide data became a mean of manipulation and proof that a personal crisis could be linked to broader social and national events and circumstances and who were the alleged culprit for that.