An investigation into suicide possiblity in creative people who have indicative characteristics of the melancholic temperament

Suicide is one of the most serious problems of human life in all over the world. Millions of people throughout history have suffered from problems that have lead to them committing suicide. Among those people there have been many famous individuals in literature and the creative arts. This thesis is intended to reveal the correlation between melancholic temperament aspects and the attempted suicide amongst people in the creative arts. This research is based on the temperament characteristics of writers, painters, musicians and actors in the creative arts that have lived in the past and present in Istanbul, Turkey, and the relational international studies that help gain understanding of what may cause people to possibly consider taking their own lives. The Personality Questionnaire (EPQ) developed by Eysenck and the Suicide Possibility Scale (SPS) which was developed by Gill and Cull were used for analyzes. As a result of the research, a significant relationship was found between melancholic temperament characteristics and possible causes of what leads to individuals committing suicide.