Psychological Autopsies: Methods and Ethics zyx Jan Beskow, MD, and Bo Runeson, MD Ulf AsgArd, MD zyxwv Sahlgrenska Hospital, University zyxw of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden Huddinge University Hospitul, Kamlinska Institute, zy Stockholm, Sweden ABSTRACT: Essential knowledge on suicideis derived from studies that includeintemews with survivors. In this paper, we discuss methodological and ethical issues pertaining to the interview method known zyxwv as “psychological autopsy”; the discussion is based on our application of the method to three studies of suicides in Sweden and on a review of other investigations. Interviewing a survivor is a delicate matter, and the integrity of the deceased, the integrity and health of the informant, and the psychological strain on the interviewer must all be taken into consideration.The interviewer should have clinical experience in order to be prepared to deal with interviewees in grief. Contact by telephone, followed by an introductory letter, provides an opportunity to meet survivors in an empathic manner and has a low rejection rate. A 2- to 6-month interval between suicide and interview is recommended. The survivor’s reactions to the interview should be evaluated in order to expand the empirical base for ethical considerations. Studies on the validity and reliability of the method are necessary. Psychological autopsy is a procedure for the reconstruction of suicidal death through interviews with survivors. It was developed at the Suicide Prevention Center in Los Angeles during the 1950s in an attempt to improve the accuracy of coroners’verdicts (Curphey, 1961; Job, Berman, z & Josselman, 1986; Shneidman, 1981). The original method has also been used in scientific studies of schizophrenic suicides (Farberow, Shneidman, & Leonard, 1961). The psychological autopsy analyzes death from physical, psychological, and social perspectives (Weisman, 1974). This study was supported by grants from the Swedish Ministry of Health and Social AtTairs, Commission for Social Research (DSF) (Grant Nos. F 82/67 and F 87/46:1); the Swedish Council for Planning and Coordination of Research (Grant No. 880588); and Gylleby Behandlingshem AB. Suicide and Life-Threatening Behavior, Vol. zyxwvu 20(4), Winter 1990 0 1990 The American Association of Suicidology 307