- "Well, it's people like me who don't do it. When your life sucks from the beginning, there's nowhere to go but up."
- ―Dr. Lawrence Kutner on suicide
Suicide describes the act of deliberately trying to end one's own life. When a person requests that a third party, such as a doctor, take action to end their life, it is referred to as assisted suicide.
Suicide and attempted suicide have been a continuous theme throughout House.
In Sports Medicine, the patient takes digitalis in an attempt to commit suicide to prevent his wife from terminating her pregnancy in order to give him a kidney transplant.
In Son of Coma Guy, the coma guy commits suicide so that his heart can be transplanted into his ill son.
In No Reason, the shooter blames House disclosure of his infidelity for his wife's suicide.
In Acceptance, a death row inmate attempts suicide by drinking copier fluid.
In One Day, One Room, a rape victim attempts suicide.
In Meaning, a wheelchair bound man's seeming attempt to commit suicide by driving his wheelchair into a pool was actually the result of his trying to cool off because he was overheating. Once House realized that this was a possibility, he suggested the patient's paralysis was due to Addison's disease.
In Informed Consent, an ill scientist makes a deal with House to assist with his suicide if he can't find out what is wrong with him. House goes back on the deal, but eventually finds the patient has a terminal disease. We are led to believe that Allison Cameron gave him the fatal dose of morphine.
In Resignation, a patient is diagnosed with a bacterial infection caused by her attempted suicide (ingesting a gel capsule filled with drain cleaner).
In 97 Seconds, a patient attempts to electrocute himself in front of House because he believes that he will glimpse heaven and the doctors will be able to revive him. House later attempts the same thing, apparently to prove to James Wilson that the whole thing can be explained by science.
In Painless, the patient makes multiple suicide attempts because he feels he can no longer deal with his chronic pain.
In Simple Explanation, Doctor Lawrence Kutner commits suicide via a self-inflicted gunshot wound for unknown reasons.
In Unwritten, Alice Tanner attempts suicide in her home by shooting herself, but has a seizure before she can pull the gun all the way to her mouth, and the bullet just misses her cheek. House figures this out from the gunpowder residue on her cheek, and seemingly offers her a lethal syringe to administer herself with should they fail to diagnose her. When she uses it almost immediately, it turns out to be a sedative (House had told her it was lethal, expecting her to attempt suicide, a valid excuse to extend her 72 hour psychiatric hold).