The Clinical Picture and the Causal Pattern PDF

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The Clinical Picture and the Causal Pattern...

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The Clinical Picture and the Causal Pattern  Virtually all psychological disorders (especially depression) increase the risk of suicidal behaviour, and most people who die by suicide have a prior mental disorder.  Notably, the risk of transitioning from suicidal thoughts to suicide attempt is highest in the first year after onset of suicidal thinking, and the longer a person goes thinking about suicide without making a suicide attempt, the less likely that individual is to ever make an attempt.  Non suicidal self-injury (NSSI) = direct, deliberate destruction of body tissue (often taking the form of cutting or burning one’s own skin) in the absence of any intent to die.  Women are more likely than men to think about suicide and to make nonlethal suicide attempts, but men are four times more likely than women to die by suicide.  Suicide tendencies increase from the age of 12 onwards to 45, after which they decrease.  Different disorders predict different parts of the pathway to suicidal behaviour.  There is strong evidence that suicide sometimes runs in families and that genetic factors may play a role in the risk for suicide (partly independent from depression).  The interpersonal-psychological model of suicide  the psychological states of perceived burdensomeness (e.g., feeling like a burden to others) and thwarted belongingness (e.g., feeling alone) interact to produce suicidal thoughts and desires. The presence of the acquired capability for suicide (believed to be acquired through pain or provocative experiences) gives a person the desire and ability to do it. Suicide Prevention and Intervention  Currently, there are three main thrusts of preventive efforts: o treatment of the person’s current mental disorder(s)  antidepressant medications o crisis intervention,  emergency medical treatment, followed by referral to inpatient or outpatient mental health facilities o working with high-risk groups....