Importance of Suicide Note: In Indian Context

Suicide note may provide information related to the psychopathology of suicide attempters, which can be used to treat them as well as to prevent suicide in a group predisposed to similar situations. Cognitive therapy is a most widely tested psychotherapy, which is very useful in the treatment of emotional problems by changing or restructuring maladaptive patterns of thought of suicide attempters. Suicide note is used in many legal matters as an important piece of evidence, especially when deciding about the abetment under section 306 IPC. It is also useful in correlating with direct evidence. However, its importance over direct evidence depends upon the fact and circumstances of a particular case. So, the present paper is an attempt to discuss various medical and legal importance related to suicide note.