Suicide takes the lives of over 3,500 Canadians each year, making prevention an important public health concern. Identifying psychological predictors of suicide risk is essential because these variables may be amenable to change in treatment, unlike demographic or historical factors. Although past research reveals that both hopelessness and depression are moderately strong predictors of suicidal outcomes, neither one of these constructs alone, or combined, is able to fully account for suicidality. Shneidman postulated that a different psychological construct, termed psychache, is a unique predictor of suicide when controlling for depression and hopelessness, and research has supported this assertion. Although evidence for psychache as a predictor of suicidal outcomes is accumulating, previous research has limitations, namely the use of cross-sectional research and a focus on healthy student populations. In addition, it has been suggested that because scales measuring depression, hopelessness, and psychache correlate highly, they are not distinct constructs, but instead represent a single syndrome. The general purpose of the current studies is to establish the importance of psychache as a predictor of suicidal ideation. In order to address past limitations in the literature on psychache, three related studies were conducted. The first study was cross-sectional and examined a general group of undergraduate students. Factor analysis showed that psychache, depression, and hopelessness are three correlated, but distinct, variables. The second study was a longitudinal study where self-report measures were administered to high-risk undergraduate students. A two-year follow-up revealed that psychache was the only significant predictor of suicidal ideation at follow-up, and that its inclusion rendered the predictive value of depression and hopelessness to nonsignificant levels. The final study involved two groups of undergraduates and was a longitudinal study with a five-month follow-up. One group was a general university sample, and the other was a group of high-risk students. The two groups were analyzed separately, but showed almost identical results, lending support to the generalization of results from university samples to clinical samples. In addition, for each group, psychache was a unique predictor of suicidal ideation and suicide preparation, after controlling for depression and hopelessness. Overall, these studies suggest that psychache is distinct from depression and hopelessness, and is a better predictor of suicidality than depression or hopelessness when studied longitudinally in both general and high-risk undergraduate students. The findings also indicate congruence between low and high-risk samples, highlighting the generalizability of psychache as a predictor. This research has implications for the assessment of suicide risk and treatment for individuals experiencing suicidal ideation. It is hoped that these studies will help bring psychache forward as a pre-eminent risk factor alongside depression and hopelessness. / Thesis (Ph.D, Psychology) -- Queen's University, 2014-04-26 12:13:48.797

L'objectif de la thèse était d’élaborer un projet de réforme du droit, visant la légalisation du suicide assisté et de l’euthanasie au Canada, projet qui s’inscrit dans le cadre théorique du libéralisme politique, qui respecte les principes dégagés par la jurisprudence en matière de protection des droits fondamentaux et qui, finalement, s’inspire des meilleures pratiques à l’étranger. La méthodologie consistait principalement en une analyse de la législation, de la jurisprudence et de la doctrine, canadienne et étrangère, en matière de suicide assisté et d’euthanasie. Des emprunts à des sources doctrinales en philosophie ont également été faits et un projet de loi a été rédigé, à partir des analyses effectuées. La thèse se divise en quatre chapitres. Le premier chapitre présente le cadre théorique, plus précisément une comparaison entre deux théories appliquées au suicide assisté : le libéralisme et le moralisme. Le deuxième chapitre consiste en une analyse du droit canadien en matière de suicide assisté, où l’encadrement législatif du suicide assisté et la jurisprudence portant sur les articles 7 et 15 de la Charte canadienne sont examinés. Le troisième chapitre présente une analyse du droit étranger, dans les états où le suicide assisté et l’euthanasie sont permis : la Suisse, les Pays-Bas, la Belgique, le Luxembourg, et quatre états américains (Oregon, Washington, Vermont et Montana). Finalement, dans le quatrième chapitre, sont proposés un projet de loi fédéral qui légalise le suicide assisté et l’euthanasie, ainsi qu’une justification de ce projet de loi et une comparaison avec d’autres projets de légalisation du suicide assisté et de l’euthanasie. Le projet de loi rédigé s’inscrit dans la théorie du libéralisme politique, respecte les droits fondamentaux eu égard à la jurisprudence et s’inspire des régimes en vigueur aux Pays-Bas, en Belgique et au Luxembourg.

Eating disorders are a significant health concern due to their high rates of comorbidity, mortality, and the physical and mental distress they cause. While many people are aware of the negative effects eating disorders have on physical and mental health, few realize that suicide is a potential outcome. Although the relationships between eating disorders and suicidality have been examined in clinical populations with anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa, these relationships have not been examined in the general population, nor with binge eating disorder. This study aimed to investigate these relationships in the Collaborative Psychiatric Epidemiologic Surveys (CPES, N=20,013), a large, nationally representative sample of adults in the United States. Logistic regression analyses revealed that individuals with a history of each eating disorder reported higher rates of suicide ideation and suicide attempts. Rates of suicide experiences among this population are similar to individuals with a history of major depression and a comorbid anxiety disorder. It is clear from this study that suicide remains a significant concern for individuals suffering from an eating disorder in the general population. It is essential that clinicians screen for suicide experiences in individuals suspected of suffering from an eating disorder.

Självmord är en av de vanligaste dödsorsakerna i Sverige. Personer som begått självmord lämnar efter sig närstående med en stor sorg. Syftet med studien var att undersöka huruvida närstående till personer som begått självmord får det stöd som de önskar. Studien är baserad på en kvantitativ metod genom ett webb-baserat frågeformulär med 66 deltagare. Urvalet utgår ifrån en kontakt med en ansvarig för anhörigorganisationen SPES (Riksförbundet för SuicidPrevention och Efterlevandes Stöd). Resultatet analyserades sedan med en kvantitativ deskriptiv statistik och kvalitativ innehållsanalys. Studiens resultat visade att 30% av deltagarna var det mer än sex år sedan självmordet skett. Nästan alla av deltagarna söktes upp eller blev erbjudna, på ett eller annat sätt, minst ett slags stöd. Majoriteten av deltagarna sökte i första hand stöd hos sin familj, släkt, vänner eller arbetskamrater. Av de närstående svarade 33% att de var nöjda med det stödet. Hälften av de närstående som fått något slags professionellt stöd upplevde att stödet var bra. Behov av att få stöd i vardagen påtalades av 29%. Studien visade sammanfattningsvis att många av deltagarna är missnöjda med det professionella stöd de erhållit. Deltagarna har ett stort behov av att uttrycka sina tankar och känslor trots att det gått lång tid sedan självmordet skett.

No description available.

University of Technology, Sydney. Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences. / This study aims to increase understanding of the critical themes and features of suicide grief through an analysis of data drawn from the lived experience of those bereaved by suicide. The theoretical context for this study is developments in new theories of grief. Specifically, the study focused on suicide grief in the context of meaning making and the influence of suicide on the griever’s relational world. The study analysed data through the lenses of three relationship areas, the griever’s relationship with self, the griever’s ongoing relationship with the deceased, and the griever’s relationships with significant others outside and within a grief group. Using an interpretive, hermeneutic methodology to analyse participant conversations, three central organising themes were identified. The proposed tripartite working model of suicide grief to emerge outlines a process of adaptation, from engaging with meaning making issues regarding the intentional nature of suicide, to reconstruction of the death story, to repositioning the suicide and pain of the deceased’s life. The metaphors of "trying on the shoes", "walking in the shoes" and "taking off the shoes" are used to indicate the grief process in relation to each identified theme. The thesis argues that suicide grief themes provide a meaning making framework that assists integrative grief processes. Not all those bereaved by suicide will engage with these themes, and progression through themes is not a linear process. The study findings provide insight into meaning making and relational difficulties that increase vulnerability to complications in grief, suicidality and maladaptive relationship with the deceased. Study findings also reveal that shifts from maladaptive to adaptive relationship with the deceased are possible even when no rational meanings can be made. It is suggested that these issues are so prevalent in suicide grief as to be a normal part of active meaning making efforts to integrate grief. The working model may assist in identifying ongoing education, practice and research issues. Significantly, the predominance of relating with the deceased through reconstruction of the death story, and the relationship between this and increased suicidal ideation to emerge in this study requires further research to determine how and when these activities shift from effective meaning making strategies to become active suicidality.

Exegesis (MA--Art and Design) -- AUT University, 2007. / Includes bibliographical references. Also held in print (68 leaves : col. ill. ; 30 cm.) in City Campus Collection (T 707 CHA)

Dissertation (Ph.D.) -- The Institute for Clinical Social Work, 2005. / A dissertation submitted to the faculty of the Institute of Clinical Social Work in partial fulfillment for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy.

Diss. (sammanfattning) Stockholm : Karol. inst. / Härtill 6 uppsatser.

Diss. (sammanfattning) Stockholm : Karol. inst., 2005. / Härtill 4 uppsatser.