In the late 1940s, Shneidman became interested in the problem and mystery of suicide while working at the Veterans Hospital in Brentwood. Becoming involved in trying to understand one case, he conducted much research into suicide notes and motivations. He formulated many terms to use in such study: as his researcher colleague Norman Farberow wrote of him: "He is one of the brightest, sharpest, most intellectually gifted persons I have ever known," and later spoke of Shneidman's ability to coin new terms, such as suicidology, psychological autopsy, psychache, and pseudocide notes (notes collected from non-suicidal subjects and compared with writings in a 1957 study).