it's a thin line between suicide and parasuicide. lack of adequate planning due to a hurried decision made in an impulsive suicidal state, not caring about whether the suicide attempt works or not, surviving a suicide attempt that would ordinarily have worked - whatever the reason for the distinction between suicide and parasuicide, the attempter is likely to have accepted death (the end of all pain) as a possible outcome, to some degree. choosing death and flirting with death both have death as a possible "solution" to pain... this is not always the case with self-harm (a fairly broad, blanket term)  Thinkerboy