Word Use in the Poetry of Suicidal and Nonsuicidal Poets

TLDR

The study aimed to identify distinctive language features in poems of suicidal versus nonsuicidal poets and to test two suicide models via text analysis. The authors compared about 300 poems from nine suicidal and nine nonsuicidal poets across three periods using the LIWC text‑analysis program, evaluating language within two suicide models. The analysis revealed that suicidal poets used more self‑referential words and fewer collective words, supporting a social‑integration model of suicide, and indicating that linguistic predictors of suicide can be identified through text analysis.

Abstract

Objective The purpose of this study was to determine whether distinctive features of language could be discerned in the poems of poets who committed suicide and to test two suicide models by use of a text-analysis program. Method Approximately 300 poems from the early, middle, and late periods of nine suicidal poets and nine nonsuicidal poets were compared by use of the computer text analysis program, Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count (LIWC). Language use within the poems was analyzed within the context of two suicide models. Results In line with a model of social integration, writings of suicidal poets contained more words pertaining to the individual self and fewer words pertaining to the collective than did those of nonsuicidal poets. In addition, the direction of effects for words pertaining to communication was consistent with the social integration model of suicide. Conclusions The study found support for a model that suggests that suicidal individuals are detached from others and are preoccupied with self. Furthermore, the findings suggest that linguistic predictors of suicide can be discerned through text analysis.