Resource Tag: CHARACTER

Character strengths of hope and gratitude acts as protective factors of against risk factors like depression and suicide ideation. Various studies have shown that individuals high on these protective factors are less prone to risk factors and less likely to have suicide ideation. A sample of 300 adolescents including both male and females was studied […]

Background: Studies conducted in different countries have reported a relationship between suicidal tendencies and childhood trauma experiences, personality traits, and psychological pain. It would be valuable to re- examine such a relationship in Iranian culture. Objectives: This study aimed to investigate early life experiences, temperament, character, and psychological pain in suicidal attempters and normal individuals. […]

Background: Personality and character traits may be a key predisposing factor to consider in the life course of people who are vulnerable to suicide. Aims: The aim of this study is first to explore the possible presence of different subgroups of suicide decedents based on developmental profiles of adversity, and secondly to examine the association of personality and […]

Highlights • To determine the relationship between suicidal risk and TCI dimensions. • The suicide attempt group displayed high levels of novelty seeking and persistence. • Self-directedness has a partial mediating effect between depression and suicide. • Self-directedness was found to reduce the effect of depressive mood on suicide risk.

In this review, evidence on suicidal behaviours among animals is analyzed to discover analogies with human suicidal behaviour. Literature was retrieved by exploring Medline/PubMed and PsycINFO databases & through manual literatuare searches. Few empirical investigations have been carried out on this topic. Nevertheless, sparse evidence supports some resemblance between the self-endangering behaviour observed in the […]

This edited book has the following chapters: the suicidal process & related concepts; the epidemiology of the suicidal process; stress & suicidal behaviours; the biological interface between psychotraumatic experiences & affective dysregulation; psychological aspects; personality constellations & suicidal behaviour; ethology; towards a psychobiological model; suicide risk assessment & the suicidal-process approach; the suicidal process & […]

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This article explores the suggestion of some scientists that the persistence of suicide at fairly high rates across most cultures suggests an underlying evolutionary component, a possible Darwinian rationale for an an act that often seems irrational. Scientists propose the tendency toward suicide could be a concomitant of a trait or a group of traits […]

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Published in “The Suicidal Process: Challenges for Treatment and Prevention”

The author considers the definition of suicide, emphasizing the roles of intent & self-awareness. He also addresses the question of self-injurious behavior in animals, & relates findings to the possibility that affective distress may be a driving force in human self-injury & suicide. (7 refs)

The author of this entry reviews a range of indirect suicidal behaviors in which death results gradually rather than immediately, & in which the degree of intentionality is less obvious than in an overt suicide attempt. Psychological interpretations of such actions are explored, & the presence of indirect suicidal behaviors in non-human species is discussed. […]

In this article, suicidal behavior is viewed from an ethological perspective, first as an innate releasing mechanism & then as a fixed action pattern. Finally, the concept of conservation-withdrawal is suggested as a possible mediator between the experience of external stressors & suicidal behavior. The implications of this analysis are discussed. (28 refs)

This article presents research relating to the effects of prenatal alcohol exposure across the lifespan of humans & other species. The review presented suggests that exposure to alcohol during the prenatal stage can affect the social behavior of individuals during all stages of life. Studies included demonstrate deficits in attachment behavior, state regulation, social skills, […]

Kin selection & inclusive fitness concepts are used to formulate a general theory accounting for the phenomenon of brood reduction in birds. The theory shows that as starvation mortality increases, selection favours first fratricide, then fratricide plus infanticide, & finally fratricide, infanticide & suicide (by the nestling with the shortest life expectancy). The theory is […]

This book describes some of the advances in the psychobiological understanding of the behavioural dimensions of suicide & violence. Part 1 examines clinical issues, including assessment & liability. Part 2 reviews ethological issues & includes a chapter on psychosocial correlates of suicide risk. Part 3 discusses clinical neurochemical aspects with a chapter on monoamines & […]

This article uses a simple mathematical formula: reproductive potential plus the productive value of continued existence. In theory, this quantity should represent the desire for self-preservation. In asocial species, the value varies from zero up. In a highly social species like humans, however, a negative value can be obtained, with a low reproductive potential & […]

The author asserts that almost all behaviour displayed by oranisms is oriented toward the maintenance or advancement of biological fitness, yet self-destructive behaviour acts directly against this. Humans are virtually the only species which are overtly self-destructive. The author argues that suicide is a result of a reduced biological fitness relative to others in the […]

This chapter discusses animal behaviour which is directly oriented toward or conducive to death. The author asserts self-destruction of a direct & unequivocal nature seems to only occur in the human species. The only time when animals appear to be self-destructive (without a secondary reason, like reproductive motivations) is when in captivity or other unnatural […]

This chapter synthesizes biological approaches to self-damaging behavior and suggests focuses for future research. Commonalities within the forms of self-damaging behavior include chronic coping difficulty, novel environments & the predominance of the behavior among males. Suggested focuses for future research include: learning VS innate determination, biological fitness, the role of ecological novelty & technology in […]

Suicide requires intent, & intent implies the ability to make a choice, or the ability to make a discrimination. In this research, the author tests the theory that an animal can discriminate between life & death, as a preliminary step toward experimentation that could induce lower animals to kill themselves. This in turn could lead […]

Dr. Zilboorg feels that suicidal impulses among modern man are connected in some way to the whole history of suicide, which is a phenomenon of man’s natural behavior. He states that the earliest suicides among emerging cultures were requests to be killed, which have now evolved into the practice of self-murder. This comprehensive study contains […]

The author outlines the stages in the evolution of suicidal impulses, pointing out that depressive states rank among the most frequent causes of suicide, with up to 50% of recorded suicides having had a history of depression. He further states that choice of drug is governed by symptomatology presented. Several groups of antidepressant drugs are […]