Chapter 9 - Suicide Flashcards
(51 cards)
1
Q
What rank is suicide in the most common causes of death
A
- Number 10
- More people die by suicide than homicide (42,773:15,809)
2
Q
Parasuicides
A
Unsuccessful attempts at suicide
3
Q
What is the estimated number of deaths per year by suicide? How many in the U.S?
A
- 1 million
- more than 42,000
4
Q
What is suicide psychologically?
A
a breakdown of coping skills, emotional turmoil and a distorted view of life
5
Q
Definition of Suicide
A
- an intentional death
- a self-inflicted death in which one makes an intentional, direct and conscious effort to end one’s life
6
Q
Edwin Shneidman
A
- defined suicide
- created categories of the 4 kinds of suicidal people (death seekers, death initiators, death ignorers, death darers)
- believed that the key to suicide was “psychache”
7
Q
Death seekers
A
These people clearly intend to end their lives at the time they attempt suicide.
8
Q
Death Initiators
A
- These people clearly intend to end their lives but they act out in belief that the process of death is already underway and that they are simply hastening the process
- Suicides among very sick and elderly fall in this category
9
Q
Death ignorers
A
These people do not believe that their self-inflicted death will mean the end of their existence. They believe they are trading their life for a happier or better existence.
10
Q
Death darers
A
- These people experience mixed feelings, or ambivalence about their intent to die, even at the moment of their attempt, they show this ambivalence in the act itself.
- Risk taking behavior does not guarantee death
11
Q
Subintentional death
A
- Created by Shneidman
- When people play indirect, covert, partial or unconscious roles in their own deaths
- Rx mismanagement, alcohol and tobacco use, recurrent physical fighting, self-injury, self-mutilation fall into this category
12
Q
Retrospective Analysis
A
- A kind of psychological autopsy in which clinicians and researchers piece together data from the suicide victims past
- Family, friends, therapists and physicians try to recall past statements, conversations and behaviors
- Suicide notes also help in this category
13
Q
Studying people who survive their suicide attempts
A
- 12 nonfatal attempts for every one fatal attempt
- However, these people can have important differences from the people who took their lives
14
Q
Religious affiliations and belief’s
A
- Explain for the national differences in number of suicides
- Countries that are catholic, Jewish or Muslim tend to have lower suicide rates
- Poland, a largely roman catholic country, has one of the highest rates of suicide in the world
- Now believe that your devoutness to your religion has an impact on suicide prevention
15
Q
What is the percentage of guns used by males and females in suicide
A
- 62% of males
- 37% of females
16
Q
How much more likely are women to attempt suicide?
A
women are three times more likely to attempt it but men are three times more likely to actually die
17
Q
Who has the highest suicide rate out of the races?
A
American Indians followed by Non-Hispanic white Americans
18
Q
What are the common triggering factors of suicide?
A
- stressful events
- mood changes
- thought changes
- alcohol and drug use
- mental disorders
- modeling
19
Q
How much more likely are veterans to commit suicide than nonveterans?
A
twice as likely
20
Q
what situations and stressful events trigger suicide
A
- Social Isolation
- Serious Illness
- Abusive or Repressive Environment
- Occupational stress
21
Q
What precedes many suicide attempts
A
Mood changes
22
Q
Psychache
A
a feeling of psychological pain that seems intolerable to the person
23
Q
Hopelessness
A
a pessimistic belief that their present circumstances, problems, or mood will not change
24
Q
Dichotomous thinking
A
viewing problems and solutions in rigid either/or terms
25
What percent of people drink alcohol before attempting suicide? Why?
- 70% of people
- it lowers a person inhibitions, reduces fears, releases underlying aggressive feelings or impairs judgement and problem solving ability
26
Do all suicide attempts involve psychological disorders?
- No
- although a vast majority do have a mental disorder: 70% have severe depression, 20% have chronic alcoholism, 10% have schizophrenia
- 25% of people with each of these disorders try to kill themselves
27
What does Modeling include?
```
Suicide by:
- family members
- friends
- celebrities
- highly publicized cases
- coworkers
Often serve as models for others to go off of and lead to an increase in suicide with those surrounding them
```
28
Psychodynamic view of Suicide
- believe that suicide results from depression and anger at others that is redirected towards oneself
- Freud and Abraham believe people "introject"
29
Introject
a person unconsciously incorporate the person into their own identity and feel toward themselves as they had felt toward the other
30
How is suicide thought of in Pyschodynamic view
thought to be an extreme expression of this self-hatred and self-punishment
31
Frued
- proposed people have a death instinct (Thanatos) which opposes the life instinct
- most people learn to redirect their death instinct by aiming it towards others, but suicidal people, caught in a self-web of anger, direct it squarely towards themselves
32
Durkhein's Sociocultural View
- Discovered by Emile Durkehin
- developed a broad theory of suicide: the probability of suicide is determined by how attached a person is to such social groups as the family, religious institutions, and community. The more thoroughly a person belongs the lower the risk of suicide
33
Durkheins categories of suicides
- Egoistic Suicides
- Altruistic Suicides
- Anomic Suicides
34
Egoistic Suicides
These are carried out by people over whom society has little or no control meaning these people rejects the structure of society
35
Altruistic Suicides
- These are undertaken by people who are so well integrated into the social structure that they intentionally sacrifice their lives for its well-being
- Societies that encourage people to sacrifice themselves for others to preserve their honor
36
Anomic Suicides
- These are those pursued by people whose social environment fails to provide stable structures, such as a family and religion, to support and give meaning to life
- acted by a person who feels as though they have been let down by a disorganized, inadequate and often decaying society
37
Interpersonal View
- created by Thomas Joiner
| - Interpersonal theory of suicide
38
Interpersonal theory of suicide
- (interpersonal-psychological theory) asserts that people will be inclined to pursue suicide if they hold two key interpersonal beliefs: perceived burdensomeness and thwarted belongingness - and at the same time have a psychological capability to carry out suicide, a capability that they have acquired from life experiences
- People with just these two traits are unlikely to attempt suicide, they must have the third variable which is the psychological capability to inflict lethal harm on themselves
39
Perceived Burdensomeness
Believe that their existence places a heavy and permanent burden on their family, friends and even society
40
Thwarted Belongingness
Feel isolated and alienated from others - not an integral part of a family or social network
41
Biological View
- found higher rates of suicide among those that had family members who committed suicide
- discovered that a large portion of suicides involved low serotonin levels and a dysfunction in the depression-related brain circuit
42
Is suicide linked to age?
Suicide increases with age up through the middle ages, then decreases during the early stages of old age, and then increases again beginning at age 75
43
Is suicide common in children?
No it is infrequent however it has been increasing over the years
44
Are children too young to understand suicide?
No, it is proven that young children who commit suicide are clearly aware of what death is and are clear on their wish to die
45
How common is suicide among children (those under 18)
It is the second leading cause of death with accidents being the first
46
Why are young adults and teenage suicide rates so high?
- Increase in competition for jobs, colleges, academic and athletic honors which has led to increased shattered dreams and ambitions
- weakening ties to the family
- easy availability of alcohol and drugs and the pressure to use them
47
What is important to know plays a role in elderly suicide?
Clinical depression
48
Treatments and Prevention of Suicide
- Crisis center intervention
- Suicide Hotline
- The Trevor Lifeline (LGBTQ)
- applying the principles of mindfulness-based cognitive-behavioral therapy
- dialectical behavior therapy
49
How do people on the phone help?
- Understand and clarify the problem
- assess suicide potential
- assess and mobilize the caller's resources
- formulate a plan
50
Do suicide prevention programs work?
- It's hard for researchers to say due to the fact that there are multiple different types of prevention programs each with its own type of procedures
- people who are thinking of suicide or tried to commit suicide are also not very truthful
51
Self Injury implicit association test
if they plan to attempt suicide this cognitive test instructs them to pair various suicide words with words that are personally relevant and with words not personally relevant
