Symonds R L
Psychol Med. 1985 Aug;15(3):609-21. doi: 10.1017/s0033291700031469.
National statistics for railway fatalities in England and Wales show a reduction of train crashes and a fluctuating level of deaths, of which an increasing proportion is from suicide. A closer examination of a two-year sample from the South of England revealed a large proportion of probable suicides and a small proportion of pure accidents. The remainder appeared to have medical, mainly psychiatric, contributions to their death, of which alcohol was an important factor in single young men. Rail suicides appear to be younger, the men less often married, the women more often married, and both sexes less often widowed than other suicides. They included more cases of major psychosis and neurosis, but fewer and less severe alcoholics. Characteristic patterns of this method of suicide are described with examples. Hypotheses to explain the choice of method suggest that it is not related to either volume of traffic, or residence in a rail-dense area or in an area with a high suicide rate, or the proximity of a psychiatric hospital.
英格兰和威尔士铁路死亡事故的全国统计数据显示，火车相撞事故有所减少，死亡人数呈波动状态，其中因自杀导致的死亡比例不断上升。对来自英格兰南部的两年样本进行更深入研究后发现，很大一部分死亡可能是自杀造成的，纯粹意外事故所占比例较小。其余死亡似乎有医学方面的原因，主要是精神方面的，其中酒精是导致单身年轻男性死亡的一个重要因素。与其他自杀方式相比，铁路自杀者似乎更年轻，男性结婚的较少，女性结婚的较多，且两性丧偶的较少。铁路自杀案例中患有重度精神病和神经症的较多，但酗酒者较少且病情较轻。文中通过实例描述了这种自杀方式的典型模式。关于为何选择这种自杀方式的假设表明，它与交通流量、是否居住在铁路密集地区或自杀率高的地区，以及是否靠近精神病院均无关。
