Insomnia Complaint Versus Sleep Diary Parameters: Predictions of Suicidal Ideation

The purpose of this study was to determine which aspects of insomnia best predict suicidal ideation (SI). Participants were grouped according to whether they complained of insomnia and whether their sleep would be characterized as poor or good by applying quantitative criteria for insomnia to their sleep diary data. Analyses revealed that insomnia complaint was more strongly associated with SI than was poor sleep. These findings suggest that patients who complain of insomnia, regardless of the presence or absence of poor sleep, may be at greater risk for suicide than those who are content with their sleep.     

WILLIAM JAMES’S DEMOCRATIC AESTHETICS

William James is famous for his investigations of the “Varieties of Religious Experience” in which people encounter (what they take to be) the divine. But in his essay, “On a Certain Blindness in Human Beings,” his interest is in our experiences, not of anything purportedly supernatural, but of one another. He thinks we need to cultivate the capacity to apprehend the intrinsic value of others, even and especially of strangers. We do so in experiences of the wonder and beauty of our fellow citizens, and of our harmony with them. Democratic societies require a sense of attraction to one another’s form of life if they are to inspire shared commitments to public goods. Whereas we shouldn’t reject the political significance of aversion, contestation, and dissonance, these negative attitudes do not suffice. Sustaining democratic engagement requires attractive attitudes, and among these are the wonder, beauty, and harmony that James promotes.     

Comparison of Suicide Attempters and Decedents in the U.S. Army: A Latent Class Analysis

A clearer understanding of risk factors for suicidal behavior among soldiers is of principal importance to military suicide prevention. It is unclear whether soldiers who attempt suicide and those who die by suicide have different patterns of risk factors. As such, preventive efforts aimed toward reducing suicide attempts and suicides, respectively, may require different strategies. We conducted a latent class analysis (LCA) to examine classes of risk factors among suicide attempters (n = 1,433) and decedents (n = 424). Both groups were represented by three classes: (1) External/Antisocial Risk Factors, (2) Mental Health Risk Factors, and (3) No Pattern. These findings support the conceptualization that military suicide attempters and decedents represent a single population.