Affective states of patients immediately preceding suicide
| Autor: | Patricia Keith-Spiegel, Donald E. Spiegel |
|---|---|
| Rok vydání: | 1967 |
| Předmět: |
medicine.medical_specialty
business.industry Depression Poison control Human factors and ergonomics medicine.disease Suicide prevention Occupational safety and health Psychiatry and Mental health Affect Suicide Injury prevention medicine Anxiety Humans Emotional conflict Medical emergency medicine.symptom Psychiatry business Suicidal ideation Biological Psychiatry |
| Zdroj: | Journal of psychiatric research. 5(2) |
| ISSN: | 0022-3956 |
| Popis: | COMMON sense would lead us to believe that the person who is about to take his own life is a highly terrified and distraught individual who sees death as the only escape from the intense and unbearable anxiety of seemingly unsolvable problems. It has been repeatedly pointed out, however, that many patients hospitalized as a result of suicidal gestures or suicidal ideation have been released as markedly improved only to be found dead by suicide shortly thereafter to the chagrin of their close associates.1 Although there have been numerous studies aimed at exploring the socio-psychological and psychological factors underlying self-destructive acts, there have been notably few attempts to investigate the role of altered affective states in the complex sequence of events leading to suicide. In a recent study2 systematic evaluations of consecutive suicides revealed that approximately 23 per cent were alcoholic and 45 per cent manic depressive. It has been reported that suicide is not a frequent cause of death in any clinical disorder other than affective disorder or alcoholism.3 The frequency of suicides in alcoholism has not been firmly established, although one study reported that 20 per cent of deaths in alcoholics were by suicide.4 A recent investigation has suggested a probable association between affective disorder and alcoholism.5 Only in the past few years has any concerted effort been made to develop a theory of suicide which might account for self-destructive acts in terms of both intentionality and altered affective states. Two recent investigations 637 have provided findings which suggest that prior to suicide the individual undergoes a change in affective reactivity. According to the theory of suicide upon which these studies were based, serious thoughts of suicide are initially accompanied by emotional turmoil as the individual stands in dread of the ramifications of his contemplated act. However, if the conflict about suicide continues, there is, over a period of time, a peaking of dread, followed by a decline below a normal level |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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