Nowadays, the socio-cultural image of suicide indicates a greater acceptance of the act, as well as its linguistic neutralization. The discernible differences with respect to word-formation and definitions used in the spoken language seem to be particularly significant. The paper discusses this issue in relation to groups of students of medical studies (nursing, midwifery, medicine, emergency medical services), social studies (journalism) and specialists (academic employees, doctors, midwives and nurses, psychiatrists, psychiatric hospital employees). The analysis of atitudes towards suicide exhibited in spoken language was based on focus group interviews, which enabled the reconstruction of deeply rooted ways of thinking and perceiving phenomena in research-controlled conditions. The choice of words, topics, and the way of defining suicide, as well as related issues, reflected the state of knowledge about suicidology and (underlying) emotions or atitudes.
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