A psychological autopsy is a postmortem procedure to reconstruct the mental state of a deceased person before they died. Its main purpose is to determine whether the death was due to suicide, accident, homicide, natural causes, or remains undetermined. This method is especially important when the cause or manner of death is unclear. The psychological autopsy was first used in 1958, by Theodore J. Murphy and Edwin S. Shneidman.  Shneidman is credited with introducing the term 'psychological autopsy'.


ALTERNATIVE TERMS

The psychological autopsy is also known as:

  • Reconstructive Psychological Evaluation (RPE)
  • Equivocal Death Analysis (EDA)
  • Equivocal Death Psychological Autopsy (EDPA)


EQUIVOCAL DEATHS

An equivocal death means the cause or manner of death is unclear. Research shows that about 5–20% of all deaths are this type. The term manner of death refers to the circumstances in which death occurred, which can be classified as:

  • Natural
  • Accident
  • Suicide
  • Homicide
  • Undetermined

 

TYPES OF PSYCHOLOGICAL AUTOPSY:

Suicide Psychological Autopsy (SPA): Used when suicide is already established, but the goal is to understand the psychosocial factors and reasons behind it. Example: If a person is seen shooting themselves, the SPA does not ask “how” but “why”—perhaps due to depression, financial stress, or relationship issues.

Equivocal Death Psychological Autopsy (EDPA): Used when the manner of death itself is unclear. Example: A parachutist dies—was it an accident, suicide, homicide, or natural causes? The EDPA helps clarify this.

 

PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS
Psychological autopsy is widely used in different fields:

  • Insurance cases: It helps decide whether a death was a suicide.
  • Civil/Criminal litigation: It is applied in lawsuits, such as: families may claim that a drug caused suicidal behavior.
  • Military: The U.S. armed forces require an (EDPA) for every unclear death of personnel.
  • Research: It provides valuable insights for studying.


MILITARY & SUICIDE STUDIES

The military is one of the largest users of psychological autopsies. Suicide rates among soldiers, especially those deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan, rose sharply and even exceeded civilian rates. Nock et al. (2017) found that most soldiers who died by suicide had identifiable mental disorders and had shared suicidal thoughts with others.  Zuromski et al. (2019) discovered that stigma and negative attitudes about mental health treatment stopped many soldiers from seeking help, which increased their suicide risk.

 

LEGAL CONTEXT

Psychological autopsies are also used in the legal system. They help reconstruct whether workplace harassment, job stress, or accidents contributed to a suicide.


PROCEDURE

A psychological autopsy is usually conducted by a forensic psychologist or psychiatrist. It involves: A full review of the death person’s life circumstances, personality, coping style, stressors, and mental health history. The use of structured protocols to keep the process consistent, but also flexible depending on the case.


STRENGTHS

  1. Gives detailed insight into suicide risk, intentions, and personal context.
  2. Useful for courts, insurance companies, and suicide prevention research.


LIMITATIONS

  1. Relies mostly on secondhand information from family, records, and notes.
  2. Information can be biased, incomplete, or speculative.
  3. There is no universal protocol for conducting it.
  4. The quality depends heavily on the investigator’s training, knowledge, and skill.

In conclusion, psychological autopsy is a valuable but limited tool. It helps in legal, medical, military, and research contexts, especially in understanding suicide, but its findings must always be interpreted carefully.