Psychological Intervention,Spontaneous Remission,Hopelessness, and Psychiatric Disturbance in Adolescent Parasuicides

A study of 40 Indian adolescent parasuicides in South Africa showed that these subjects have significantly higher levels of hopelessness and psychiatric disturbance than nonsuicidal controls. Approximately half the parasuicides received psychological intervention. Posttesting at 6 months revealed that the treated subjects improved significantly on measures of hopelessness and psychiatric disturbance. The untreated subjects showed no significant reduction in hopelessness although they improved significantly on ratings of psychiatric disturbance. The results are discussed with possible explanations and recommendations.