Psychopathology CH 8

Suicide risk factors: gender (males vs. females)

Females attempt more often, males succeed more often

suicide risk factors: social isolation

being lonely

suicide risk factors: marital status

ex divorce

suicide risk factors: ethnicity

Native Americans are most at risk, white adolescents more at risk than black

suicide risk factors: age group

Children least likely, then adolescents are more likely to attempt but less of them succeed, but the elderly are most at risk of death by suicide

Suicide prevention factors: religious devoutness

not exclusively affiliation

Triggers for suicide: stressful events

short-term (significant loss) and long-term (abusive environment or serious illness) stressors

ex. combat stress

triggers: modeling

ex celebrity suicide

Triggers for suicide: mood/thought changes

Many suicide attempts are preceded by changes in mood and shifts in thinking patterns.

-Hopelessness

-Sadness, anxiety, tension, frustration, shame

-Psychache

-Dichotomous thinking

triggers for suicide: alcohol/drug use

- One-fourth of people who attempt suicide are legally intoxicated.

- Use of other kinds of drugs may have similarities to suicide, particularly in teens and young adults

Triggers for suicide: mental disorders

The majority of people who attempt suicide have a psychological disorder.

-Unipolar or bipolar depression (70 percent)

-Chronic alcoholism (20 percent)

-Schizophrenia (10 percent)

-Risk increases with multiple disorders.

Suicide treatment after attempt

medical care, appropriate follow-up medication, psychotherapy (e.g., cognitive-behavioral therapy)

Therapy goals after suicide

-Keep the patient alive.

-Reduce psychological pain.

-Achieve non-suicidal state of mind and a sense of hope.

-Develop of better ways of stress management.

Suicide prevention

crisis intervention training, suicide prevention programs, suicide hotlines

Crisis intervention approach (five steps, descriptions, examples)

-Establishing a positive relationship

-Understanding and clarifying the problem

-Assessing suicide potential

-Assessing and mobilizing the caller's resources

-Formulating a plan