death instinct

noun

1. suicidal tendency or inclination; predisposition to self-destruction.
2. Psychoanalysis. an impulse to withdraw or destroy, working in opposition to forces urging survival and creation life instinct.

Word History and Origins

Origin of death instinct¹

First recorded in 1915–20

Example Sentences

Next week, when his own new book, The Death Instinct, comes out, he may find that it serves him to speak.

From The Daily Beast