4.2 Suicide (Social Challenges) Flashcards
What is the suicidal behaviour continuum?
Ideation –> threat –> attempt –> suicide
What is the classical classification of suicide?
Altruistic, selfish and anomic suicide (Durkheim, 1897)
What is the contemporary classification of suicide?
Selfish, diathetic and agenerative suicide. (Schneidman, 1968)
What is the empirical classification of suicide?
Depression or low selfsteem, escape, aggression, confussion, alienation suicide
What the overall prevalence of suicide?
9 out of 100,000 inhabitants. (WHO, 2021)
Gender prevalence of suicide?
Much higher for men in all countries.
Why could prevalence be higher for men?
- traditional male gender role (robust, strength, power, dominance, courage, independence, rationality and competitiveness)
- Men ascribing to gender roles may behave excessively through drink alcohol and risk-taking behaviour.
- Reduced help seeking behaviour
Where are suicide rates higher?
African, European and South-East Asia regions were higher than the global average.
Outline some selective prevention strategies for suicide?
Psychoeducational Programs: make adolescents aware of characteristics of mental illness & how and where to seek help. Teach young people strategies for risk factors identified for suicide (communication, emotional regulation, drug/alcohol management)
Gatekeepers Training: targets teachers/parents/students who are responsible for overlooking individuals at risk of suicide. Provide training for helping individuals are risk.
Screening Programs: detect adolescents with mental problems or at risk of suicidal behaviour. They’re then referred to specialists
Outline some indicated prevention strategies?
Crisis Intervention
Therapy: CBT & dialectical behavioural therapy
Contextual Techniques: reduce access to lethal means among persons at risk of suicide. Interventions in places with a high prevalence of suicide (e.g., railroad tracks, elevated or isolated locations), by placing barriers, limiting access, or installing warning signs or helplines to facilitate finding resources in case of need.
Outline universal prevention strategies?
Awareness campaigns: Improve the general population’s knowledge about mental health, reduce stigma, and provide information for recognizing risk factors and detecting when to seek help
Other prevention strategies?
Risk Factors: Alcohol consumption, unemployment, family relationships
Economic Policies: unemployment, housing, health services and mental helath treatment access, alcohol consumption.
Organizational Policies: targeting companies, promote access to mental health and support resource, create crisis response plans and policies to promote safe physical environment.
Community Engagement: Social support. (e.g., religious activities, sports, or cleaning of community areas) as a way to connect with the community and other community members.
Who do intervention programmes target?
Survivors & family
Types of intervention programmes
Crisis intervention and relapse prevention: Link to mental health services after ED discharge & improve treatment adherence follow up.
Psychoeducational programs: provide patients and families with evidence-based info on mental illness, treatment, and prognosis to eliminate stigmas and false beliefs, better understand the illness and the need for and importance of treatment, identify warning signs, increasing adherence to treatment.
Follow-up measures: Health personnel maintain contact with the victim periodically months after the suicide attempt, in order to reduce social isolation.
Postvention: Intervention conducted after a suicide, largely taking the form of support for family and friends.
Media and information management: How to report a suicide to avoid the copycat effect. It is essential when reporting a death by suicide to also provide resources for help in case of vulnerability or crisis.
