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It is well known that suicide rates tend to decline in times of war, both in countries engaged in warfare and in neutral countries. The article discusses how this phenomenon has been explained by sociological classics (Durkheim and Halbwachs) and within psychodynamic theory (Freud). The former claims that war strengthens integration and social ties within the population, while the latter postulates that self-destructive people may be more inclined than others to volunteer for war missions. Furthermore, the article presents suicide rates of German-occupied Norway and neutral Sweden during the Second World War . Norwegian rates dropped considerably in 1941 (the year in which the occupation of Norway brutalized), and then suddenly peaked in 1945, the year of liberation. Swedish rates tended, however, to become lower during the last years of war. The article compares this statistical material with the mentioned models of explanation. The fact that Norwegian and Swedish suicide rates decreased not only in the young, but also within the middle aged and elderly population, and among women, seems to strengthen the sociological hypothesis. Norwegian rates were revised after the war, and this revision excluded suicides among members of the resistance movement who killed themselves in order not to reveal information during interrogation or torture. Traditionally, a sacrifice like this has not been classified as suicide.

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