It would also explain the paradoxical finding (not proven, but suggestive) that some severely depressed patients commit suicide when first put on antidepressant drugs such as Prozac. It is arguable that in extreme Cotard cases suicide would be redundant, since the self is already “dead” there is no one there who can or should be put out of her suffering. On the other hand, an antidepressant drug may restore just enough self-awareness for the patient to recognize that her life and world are meaningless; now that it matters that the world is meaningless, suicide may seem the only escape.
