Suicide prevention in the genetic counseling context

Utilizing a case report, this paper explores psychosocial aspects of suicidal intent in a woman seeking prenatal diagnosis. Using knowledge and practice of appropriate assessment, referral, and intervention procedures, the therapy team of genetic counselor and psychotherapist facilitated successful identification and management of this potentially suicidal client. The main counseling goals for the genetic counselor are to assess the situation adequately, decrease the immediate danger, and, with supervision and/or consultation, stabilize the seriously suicidal person until that individual can be triaged to mental health or medical professionals for treatment. The prevalence of suicide issues in genetic counseling contexts is unknown and reports mentioning suicidal ideation unusual in the genetic counseling literature. Is this reported case a rarity among genetic counseling referrals? Systematically collected information on the prevalence and resolution of suicidal issues in genetic counseling contexts would be helpful for those setting curricula for genetic counseling training programs, standards for professional certification exams, and policy and procedures manuals for clinical units.     

Psychoanalysis in the Netherlands during World War II

To understand what happened in the psychoanalytic world in Holland during the German occupation (1940-1945) we must have knowledge of the conflicts within the Dutch Society of Psychoanalysis in the nineteen-thirties. Those conflicts mainly deal with the subject of lay analysis, the compulsory training analysis and in general if compliance with foreign, with IPA rules was advisable. These differences of opinion reached their peak when four Jewish psychoanalysts arrived from Germany in 1933. The Dutch Society broke up in two parts, but was reunited in 1938. During the German occupation the training was finally regulated according to the IPA rules. This lead to a new splitting in the world of Dutch psychoanalysis that has not been healed to date.     

Suicide: Media Impacts in War and Peace, 1910–1920

The literature of the impact of publicized suicide stories on suicide has neglected the influence of social contexts. In the present study, the context of a popular war was inspected. A Durkheimian perspective was tested, wherein the context of war would lower suicide through promoting social integration. Suicide stories in such times should have less of an impact than in times of peace. Data were collected on widely publicized suicide stories during the World War I decade. A Cochrane—Orcutt iterative time series analysis found that publicized suicide stories during war had no impact on suicide. In contrast, peacetime suicide stories were associated with an increase of 48 suicides. This is significant, since the electronic media were nonexistent and hence could not reinforce the publicity in the printed media, as they do today. Further analysis of the relationship found similar results for New York City.     

The study of religion(s) in Western Europe (II): Institutional developments after World War II

This essay discusses main features and developments of the study of religion(s) in Western Europe. It attempts a historical, geographical, and thematic synthesis. Part II sketches institutional developments after World War II in several countries and the emergence of professional associations (international as well as national). In the post World War II growth of the field, social-scientific approaches to the study of religion(s) became increasingly prominent. The article sketches the institutional developments and main scholarly concerns of the psychology, sociology, and anthropology of religions respectively. It then moves on to consider the Eranos conferences as a specific forum for scholarship. The final sections discuss religious changes in Western Europe and their reflections in the study of religion(s).     

War stress and late-life mortality in World War II male civilian resistance veterans

The mental and physical health of 146 Dutch males exposed to severe war stress during their young adulthood were examined in 1986-1987 when they were at ages 61 to 66 years. The veterans' data were compared with a randomly selected population-based sample of same-aged males. In 2005, 70% of the war stress veterans had died, and only 35% of the comparison group. The baseline quality of life was significantly poorer in the war stress veterans than in the comparison group. Baseline variables explained 42% of the increased risk of mortality among war stress veterans. Smoking was the largest single contributor to mortality.     

Factor Structure of the Reasons for Attempting Suicide Questionnaire (RASQ) with Suicide Attempters

A sample of 134 suicide attempters completed the Reasons for Attempting Suicide Questionnaire (RASQ). Maximum likelihood factor and principal components analyses confirmed the multidimensionality of the RASQ, with two-component and three-factor models each receiving support. Scales from these competing multidimensional RASQ models demonstrated adequate internal consistency reliability. For the two-component model, two previously developed scales demonstrated differential validity with suicide indices. It is concluded that the RASQ has at least two dimensions, and it is recommended that the RASQ be scored for two scales: Internal Perturbation-Based Reasons and Extrapunitive/Manipulative Motivations.     

Tension and opportunity in post-world War II American psychology

The rapid growth of post-World War II psychology in the United States led to intradisciplinary tensions and opportunities. In this article, I examine these tensions and opportunities in the context of social change from the 1950s through the present, attending specifically to the broad impact of federal funding on psychology. I argue that as psychology became a resource-rich field, it was forced to move from a narrow, parochial stance to a position as a national-level professional player that had to deal with the challenges of mixing science and practice, as well as meeting the demands of non-White psychologists at the national level. The impetus to create a more inclusive psychology has grown in the last three decades of the 20th century and has helped create possibilities for greater richness in American psychology and movement toward a truly international role vis-a-vis emergent psychologies around the world.     

Suicide in the Israeli army

The present study was an attempt to analyze the problem of suicide in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF). Suicide is increasing among populations aged 18-21, which in Israel is the age when most young people are called up for a 3-year period of compulsory military service. The service may have a catalytic effect on suicide. but on the other hand may serve as a control mechanism reducing suicide. The study used data for the period 1974-1985, and examined suicide in combat and noncombat units by duration of service and by preservice psychiatric, medical, and motivational data. The suicide groups were also compared with a matched sample of nonsuicide groups along the relevant variables. The findings seem to be consistent with some established theoretical perspectives of situational stress, social support, and status incompatibility, and seem to bear practical implications for the reduction of suicide.     

Governing the grapevine: the study of rumor during World War II

Throughout the early 1940s, a host of rumors relating to the Second World War began to circulate, leading the government to establish various committees and undertake multiple projects intended to counteract rumors that were believed to threaten civilian morale and compromise national security. Simultaneously, social scientists also began taking measures to study and combat rumor. Such efforts included the institution of several community groups, deemed "rumor clinics," that aimed to decrease the prevalence of wartime rumor by educating the general public. This article outlines the rise and fall of rumor clinics, focusing specifically on the shifting boundaries and the mounting tensions between the United States government and social scientists in the study of rumor during World War II.     

PART II. Cultural Perspectives 6 Suicide in America: A Nation of Immigrants

The patterns of suicide of immigrants are briefly explored, followed by a more detailed study of the suicidal behavior of Chinese in different nations of the world (including America), African American slaves in the 1600s and 1700s, and Native Americans. Some of the implications of the issues addressed are explored for their relevance in counseling clients from different cultures.     

The study of religion(s) in Western Europe (I): Prehistory and history until World War II

This essay discusses main features and developments of the study of religion(s) in Western Europe. It attempts a historical, geographical, and thematic synthesis. Part I sketches the general academic framework of the academic study of religion(s) in Western Europe and addresses the question of the (historical and conceptual) roots of this field of study. It then discusses some key dimensions of the academic institutionalization of the study of religion(s) from the 1870s to Fascism and National Socialism, addressing such issues as chairs, congresses, periodicals, textbooks and reviewing previous research. Parts II and III are to follow.     

The study of religion(s) in Western Europe III: Further developments after World War II

This essay discusses main features and developments of the study of religion(s) in Western Europe. It attempts a historical, geographical, and thematic synthesis. Part III outlines post-World War II developments with regard to journals, textbooks, and survey works. It looks at national figureheads, disciplinary boundaries and the changing fortunes of the phenomenology of religion. The series concludes by addressing selected key areas of scholarly work and current issues and concerns.     

Suicide Prevention in the Elderly (Age 65–99)

Suicide rates by age are highest among older adults. Subpopulations of elderly adults at high risk are identified, including White males, the target of a Healthy People 2000 Objective. Several specific programs are described and a range of measures to prevent suicide in late life are suggested. These measures include primary prevention steps related to education and information dissemination, and secondary prevention involving early identification and assessment of the depressed and suicidal as well as improved referral efforts.