Change of suicidal ideation induced by suicide attempt

• Published in: Psychiatry and clinical neurosciences Vol. 59; no. 5; pp. 599 - 604
• Main Authors: MATSUISHI, KUNITAKA, KITAMURA, NOBORU, SATO, MAYUMI, NAGAI, KAZUYUKI, HUH, SEUNG‐YOUNG, ARIYOSHI, KOUICHI, SATO, SHINICHI, MITA, TATSUO
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Melbourne, Australia Blackwell Science Pty 01.10.2005; Blackwell Publishing
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adult; Adult and adolescent clinical studies; Age Factors; Aged; Alcohol Drinking - psychology; Biological and medical sciences; Catharsis; cathartic effect; Depressive Disorder - psychology; Emergency Medical Services; Female; generation; Humans; Male; Medical sciences; Middle Aged; psychiatric diagnosis; Psychiatric disorders; Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychopathology. Psychiatry; Sex Factors; Social Support; Stress, Psychological; Suicidal ideation; Suicide; Suicide - psychology; Suicide - statistics & numerical data; suicide attempt; Suicide, Attempted - psychology; Suicide, Attempted - statistics & numerical data; Surveys and Questionnaires; Human; generation; Catharsis; Mental disorder; suicidal ideation; Diagnosis; psychiatric diagnosis; Suicide ideation; cathartic effect; Suicide attempt
• ISSN: 1323-1316; 1440-1819
• DOI: 10.1111/j.1440-1819.2005.01421.x

Some studies have reported that a suicide attempt has a cathartic effect. We studied a change of suicidal ideation just before and after a suicide attempt to test whether a cathartic effect exists and, if a cathartic effect does exist, to identify factors that may affect it. Subjects consisted of 88 suicide attempters (29 males, 59 females, mean age = 35.5 years) who attended the emergency medical center of Kobe City General Hospital, Kobe, Japan. Strength of suicidal ideation just before and after a suicide attempt was evaluated by 11 steps from 0 to 10, where 0 indicates no suicidal ideation and 10 indicates the strongest suicidal ideation. Subjects were also interviewed about any clinical backgrounds related to suicide attempts. Diagnoses were made by psychiatrists based on ICD‐10. Scores of suicidal ideation decreased significantly after the suicide attempt in comparison with those just before the suicide attempt (P < 0.0001). In suicide attempters of each generation under 60 years of age, there were significant decreases in scores of suicidal ideation after the suicide attempt, but not in those of over 60 years of age. Scores of suicidal ideation after the suicide attempt were significantly higher in the group of F4 classified by ICD‐10 than that of F2. Our results indicate that the cathartic effect induced by suicide attempt is different among generations and psychiatric disorders.