Suicide, Suicidality, and Bipolar Disorder Lecture Notes

Vocabulary practice flashcards covering terminology, risk factors, interpersonal theories, patterns of suicide, and the mood states of bipolar disorder.

Suicide

Causing one's own death through actions intended primarily to cause that death.

Parasuicide

An action taken with the intent of ending one's life that does not result in fatality; preferred by the APA over the term "failed attempt."

Die by Suicide

The clinical terminology recommended by the APA to replace the phrase "commit suicide."

Non-Suicidal Self Injury (NSSI)

Self-injurious behavior understood in modern clinical views not as suicidality, but as a compulsion, a method to interrupt intrusive thoughts, self-punishment, or a means to release endorphins.

Death Seeker

A suicide pattern in which an individual clearly intends to end their existence through suicidal action, characterized by an impulse that often lasts relatively little time.

Death Initiator

A suicide pattern in which an individual believes (often correctly) that death will occur soon regardless, and chooses to bring it about early.

Death Ignorer

A suicide pattern in which a person engages in suicidal actions with the intention of achieving an afterlife.

Death Darer

A suicide pattern in which an individual experiences ambivalent or changeable feelings about death, engaging in actions that could result in death but are not guaranteed to do so.

Subintentional Death

A pattern where a person exhibits a disregard for their own well-being to the extent that it results in death (e.g., reckless driving, heavy drug use, failing to take required medications, severe self-injury), making it hard to definitively classify as suicide.

Suicide Demographics: Sex

Men die by suicide more often than women do, a disparity tied closely to gun ownership, which provides the most lethal and easy-to-use means.

Suicide Demographics: Age

The older a person is, the greater their statistical risk of suicide; while teen suicides receive substantial media attention, rates among lonely, impoverished, and recently bereaved older adults remain higher.

Suicide Demographics: Race

Native Americans and white Americans exhibit greater suicide risk than other racial demographics, reflecting differences in community support, gun ownership, and rates of drug addiction.

Suicide Demographics: Religion

Non-religious individuals have a higher suicide risk compared to religious individuals, as major religious traditions like Judaism, Christianity, and Islam strictly forbid suicide.

Suicide Stressors

Precipitating life events that heighten suicide risk, including life-changing loss (loved one, job, home), physical or psychological abuse, occupational stress, and chronic or immediate drug use.

Isolation

The single largest risk factor for suicide, present across factors such as being unmarried, lacking friendship or religious communities, undergoing culture shock or cultural isolation, and facing social ostracism.

Interpersonal Theory of Suicide

A cognitive-behavioral theory stating that suicide results from the combination of two irrational beliefs (perceived burdensomeness and thwarted belongingness) and one behavior (capability of harm).

Perceived Burdensomeness

An irrational belief in the Interpersonal Theory of Suicide that one's existence causes misery or stress to loved ones, and that loved ones would be "better off" if one died.

Thwarted Belongingness

An irrational belief in the Interpersonal Theory of Suicide defined by a painful sense of being disconnected from others and not truly belonging to a family, community, or social group.

Capability of Harm

The acquired behavioral ability to envision, desire, and carry out lethal self-injury, requiring volition to override fundamental human biological self-preservation.

988

The universal nationwide telecommunication number designated for immediate suicide and mental health crisis response.

Crisis Intervention

Emergency procedures and specialized training provided to first responders (police officers, firefighters, EMTs, nurses) with the goal of keeping a suicidal person alive until they can receive professional mental health care.

Bipolar Disorder

A psychological mood disorder defined by cyclical shifts between distinct mood states: mania and depression.

Mania

A bipolar mood state characterized by euphoria, grandiosity, excessive energy, rapid disorganized thought patterns, lack of negative emotions, and potential hallucinations, delusions, or reckless behaviors.

Depression (Bipolar Disorder)

A bipolar mood state characterized by hopelessness, low self-worth, lack of energy, excessive sleep, guilt, sadness, inability to feel positive emotions, slowed speech, brain fog, and loss of volition.