Suicide Flashcards
Suicidality
all suicide-related behaviors and thoughts of completing or attempting suicide and suicidal ideation
Suicidal Ideation
thinking about & planning one’s own death; it includes excessive or unreasoned worrying about losing a loved one
Suicide Attempt
nonfatal, self-inflicted destructive act with explicit/implicit intent to die
Parasuicide
voluntary, apparent attempt at suicide, commonly called a suicidal gesture, in which the aim is not death
- sometimes death is the result though
- -ex: taking too many pills but not intending to commit suicide
Lethality
the probability that a person will successfully complete suicide
Epidemiology of Suicide
- Suicide is the 10th leading cause of death
- 38,000 annually in the US
- 25 attempts per suicide annually (950,000)
- Mountain regions have the highest rates
- Suicides can be disguised as vehicular accidents or homicides
- Healthy People 2020 directly targets the reduction of deaths by suicide
Who is most vulnerable to suicidality?
- Suicide of a primary family member
- Psychiatric disorder
- Previous attempt
- Loss (grief)
- Unrelenting physical illness
- Poverty
Suicide Intent
- Do they have a suicide plan and means of executing it?
- Inability to enter into a commitment to treatment contract
*Always want to assess for intent
Suicide Risk
- White or Native
- American male adult
- Non Hispanic white or Native American male adolescent
- Elderly man
- Gay, lesbian, or bisexual
- Access to firearm
- Middle aged woman
- Mental illness
- 51% abused children attempt
Suicide: Disinhibition
- Impulsivity
- Isolation
- Psychotic thoughts
- Drug or alcohol use
Special Populations: Children and Adolescents
- 15% high school students have contemplated suicide & 7% have attempted
- Suicide contagion - Adolescents -Cluster suicides (suicide pacts, copy cat syndrome), more media coverage of a celebrity suicide increases copy cat suicides
- Adolescents are influenced by prevention measures
Special Populations: Adults
- Armed services Iraq & Afghanistan a leading cause, combat exposure & for women military sexual trauma
- Ages 45-54 peak & another peak after age 75
Etiology: Genetic
runs in families, identical twin whose twin showed suicidal behavior has 11 X the risk for suicidal behavior
Etiology: Physiologic Effects on Child Abuse
constant stress, altered serotonin/dopamine metabolism
Etiology: Reaction to Surviving Suicide
if they were sorry they did not die they are more likely to attempt again