Freud's atonement

The authors explore Freud's preoccupations with death and dying. In particular, they focus on the day of Freud's death, which was the Jewish Day of Atonement and the Jewish Sabbath. The significance of this event, which the authors think was “planned,” was not just in order to obliterate years of pain and suffering from cancer, but also to overcome a lifelong burden of conflict and guilt about his relations with his family and colleagues as well as his Jewish cultural/religious upbringing. The authors consider whether the timing of Freud's death represented a premeditated return to his cultural and religious roots.     

Mental illness and suicide in British South Asian adults

South Asians make up about 5% of the UK population. Their rates for mental illness and suicide have been shown by some researchers to be rather lower than that of the total UK population, using a variety of measures, and considering many psychiatric conditions. This paper reviews the literature on the extent of mental illness among British South Asian adults, and explores aspects of their service use, and their attitudes to mental illness. Some distinguishing features of British South Asian mental health are identified, including areas justifying further research. Variations in the South Asian population including generation, country of origin, religion, class, wealth and geography, emphasise the growing need to disaggregate this population when presenting data about them.     

Forgiveness as a moderator of the association between anger expression and suicidal behaviour

Anger is often associated with poor physical and mental health, including suicidal behaviour. Anger expression is typically conceptualised as inward or outward-directed, with each mode of expression having potentially different aetiologies and health manifestations. Individual characteristics such as religion or spirituality may buffer against the effects of anger. One such characteristic, forgiveness, is the voluntary process of changing ones’ beliefs, behaviours, and emotions towards a transgressor from negative to positive. We examined forgiveness of self, forgiveness of others and feeling forgiven by God as moderators of the relationship between anger expression and suicidal behaviours in a sample of 372 ethnically diverse college students. In independent and full models, we found that forgiveness of self was a significant moderator of the association between inward and outward anger and suicidal behaviour. Interventions targeting anger via the promotion of forgiveness may be useful in the prevention of suicide ideation and attempts.     

自杀高危人群的识别及预防研究

自杀是由严重心理危机导致的行为.通过描述自杀高危人群存在的时代状况,从社会学与心理-精神病学的维度分析了高危人群的自杀成因,进而对其自杀前的异常言行表现、自杀的方式及当前各种预防措施进行讨论.同时,对中国文化语境下的自杀及其预防展开了反思与展望.     

关怀哲学视阈下的自杀防控探究

自杀问题是当下社会中存在的精神卫生症候之一,从关怀哲学的视角探究自杀防控理念的历史源流、现实境遇、临床困境与价值诉求,经由医患关怀的和谐转化,医务人员可以在防控自杀病人的进程中达到“关怀”与“防控”的知行统一,一方面为自杀病人提供文化关怀的防控脉相,另一方面为医护人员在自杀防控的实践运用层面提供参考.     

The Balance Between Providing Support,Prolonging Suffering,and Promoting Death: Ethical Issues Surrounding Psychological Treatment of a Terminally Ill Client

The concept of moral identity based on virtue ethics has become an issue of considerable import in explaining moral behavior. This attempt to offer adequate explanations of the full range of morally relevant human behavior inevitably provokes boundary issues between ethics and moral psychology. In terms of the relationship between the two disciplines, some argue for “naturalized (or psychologized) morality,” whereas, on the other hand, others insist on “moralized psychology.” This article investigates the relationship between virtue ethics and moral identity based on previous research on the relationship between ethics and moral psychology. This article especially attempts to show that meaningful links between the two concepts possible by using theoretical frameworks constructed by the most influential philosophers of science such as Kuhn and Lakatos.     

Distress Tolerance and Anxiety Sensitivity Cognitive Concerns: Testing the Incremental Contributions of Affect Dysregulation Constructs on Suicidal Ideation and Suicide Attempt

Empirical work has suggested relationships among suicide-related outcomes and several constructs related to affect dysregulation, notably anxiety sensitivity (AS) and distress tolerance (DT). However, important questions remain, including the relative contributions of these affect regulation variables as well as the direct contribution of DT on suicidal ideation and prior attempts. The current study sought to better elucidate the nature of these relationships by examining AS, DT, and suicidal ideation and attempt in a clinical sample (N = 192). Consistent with prior work and prediction, findings revealed a significant relationship between the AS cognitive concerns subfactor and suicidal ideation and suicide attempt history after accounting for the effects of DT, gender, and depressive symptoms. In addition, depressive symptoms significantly moderated the relationship between the AS cognitive concerns subfactor and suicidal ideation. After accounting for the influence of AS, analyses revealed that DT approached significance in predicting suicidal ideation, but did not significantly predict suicide attempt history. These results suggest that elevated AS cognitive concerns are particularly relevant to suicide in the context of depressive symptoms. Clinicians may benefit from implementing AS reduction strategies with individuals who endorse elevated suicide risk as well as elevated AS cognitive concerns.     

The Relationship Between Cumulative Risk and Promotive Factors and Violent Behavior Among Urban Adolescents

Resiliency theory posits that some youth exposed to risk factors do not develop negative behaviors due to the influence of promotive factors. This study examines the effects of cumulative risk and promotive factors on adolescent violent behavior and tests two models of resilience—the compensatory model and the protective model—in a sample of adolescent patients (14–18 years old; n = 726) presenting to an urban emergency department who report violent behavior. Cumulative measures of risk and promotive factors consist of individual characteristics and peer, family, and community influences. Hierarchical multiple regression was used to test the two models of resilience (using cumulative measures of risk and promotive factors) for violent behavior within a sample of youth reporting violent behavior. Higher cumulative risk was associated with higher levels of violent behavior. Higher levels of promotive factors were associated with lower levels of violent behavior and moderated the association between risk and violent behaviors. Our results support the risk-protective model of resiliency and suggest that promotive factors can help reduce the burden of cumulative risk for youth violence.     

Combating the Suicide Epidemic: The Effects of Leisure Engagement on the Incidence of Depression and Poor Life Satisfaction in Soldiers

This cross-sectional study examined the relationship of leisure engagement to levels of depression and life satisfaction in U.S. Army Soldiers. The relationship between overall time engaging in leisure, as well as categories of physically active and sedentary leisure, on the incidence of depression and poor life satisfaction were examined. Results from self-report survey of 230 soldiers revealed higher amounts of time spent engaged in leisure correlated with reported lower levels of depression and higher life satisfaction. The categories physically active and sedentary leisure did not demonstrate a distinct relationship to levels of depression, but both positively related to life satisfaction.     

Shattered Dreams of Professional Competence

Abstract

This article reviews the frequency of suicide, compares and contrasts suicide prediction to suicide assessment and provides a succinct overview of suicide high risk factors that mental health practitioners should be aware. Finally, the article describes common symptoms experienced by mental health practitioners who survive their clients' suicides, and presents a Pre-suicide Preparation Plan that mental health practitioners can implement prior to a crisis to hopefully enable them for a less demanding post-suicide experience.