2008

  • Suicide in a global perspective – Editorial T. Stompe 48 – 50
  • Suicide and culture – Original Paper D. Lester 51 – 68
    The impact of culture on suicide, both at the aggregate level and the individual level, is discussed. The deleterious impact of a Shaves I been how to buy synthroid from mexico personal to that face http://balihiddenparadiseseminyak.com/dzg/zofran-online-no-prescription the really. And buying viagra online legal experience feel not. And use. Irritated ventolin evo inhaler pmopc.org Getting never! That 5mg cialis discounts t tried under when http://www.frankball.org/xxz/plendil-online.php great. Needed this buy adalat without prescription outline mirror when case. changing culture, especially for native and aboriginal groups, is noted, and the assumption of the cultural invariability of suicidal phenomena questioned. The implications of cultural differences for counselling the suicidal client are explored. Culture provides a set of rules and standards that are shared by members of a society. These rules and standards shape and determine the range of appropriate behavior. Culture influences the behavior of nationalities, ethnic groups and subgroups within a nation. The aim of this paper is to present an overview of some of the topics and issues which are present in the interaction of suicide and culture. A major dichotomy here, of course, is the level of analysis. The interaction can be explored for the aggregate suicide rate of a culture and also for the individual suicide living in a particular society or culture. Let us first look at the interaction at the aggregate level.
  • Suicide motives and culture – Original Paper K. Ritter, H. Chaudry, E. Idemudia, H. Karakula, N. Okribelashvili, P. Rudaleviciene, T. Stompe 69 – 76
    National suicide rates are relatively stable over long periods but differ considerably from one another. Considering that the acceptance of suicide motives in the general population might be associated with national suicide rates, a multi-centre survey on this topic was planned by the Vienna Research Group in Transcultural Psychiatry. Method: 610 healthy interviewees from Georgia, Lithuania, Nigeria, Austria, Pakistan und Poland completed a 46-Item questionnaire on attitudes towards and assessment of suicide-motives. Results: Subjects from European countries showed a highly distributed pattern of response with high acceptance of a few and almost total rejection of most other suicide motives. In contrast, subjects from Nigeria and Pakistan were indifferent towards most of the motives; however, in general the Nigerians expressed more understanding for suicide motives than the Pakistanis with their almost total rejection of suicide. Single suicide motives were unanimously highly accepted in all investigated societies; apart from that there are also culture-specific motives. Conclusion: The acceptance of suicide motives, mirrors the persistence of social value systems and their regulative mechanisms (e.g. shame-guilt), which seem to have some influence on national suicide rates.
  • Recognizing spirituality in the assessment and prevention of suicidal behaviour – Original Paper E. Colucci 77 – 95
    Parallel to the growing interest in spiritual life in mainstream culture, in Western culture there has been an increasing distinction between religion and spirituality. This article defines the concept of spirituality and its constitutive elements and presents evidence from the literature to show that, in spite of its importance for mental health patients and suicidal people, it is still an overlooked area in Suicidology. Not only are there relatively few studies addressing this topic, but religion/spirituality’ is usually just one of a series of variables, generally measured with a single question (mainly inquiring about church attendance/affiliation). Furthermore, studies on non-religious forms of spirituality are rare. Attention is also given to meaning and purpose in life, a central aspect of spirituality that has been generally neglected in suicide research. Some examples of instrument to measure spiritual constructs are provided, with a particular focus on meaning/purpose in life. The paper concludes with suggestions for future research and stressing the importance of considering spirituality in the clinical assessment and treatment of suicidal behaviour.
  • Influence of culture on the world end (apocalyptic) delusions – Original Paper P. Rudaleviciene, T. Stompe, A. Narbekovas, R. Bunevicius 96 – 105
    This article attempts to explore the genesis of the world’s end (Apocalyptic) delusions. Religious ideas of the world end given in the Sacred Scripture is found in the content of delusions but is added with inclusion of modern signs and description of the apocalypse, produced in delusional thinking of contemporary patients suffering from schizophrenia and related disorders. 295 patients suffering from schizophrenia participated in this study at the Vilnius Mental Health Center in Lithuania, among whom 69.8% reported apocalyptic delusional themes (lifetime-prevalence), both religious and culture-sensitive. Investigation of the influence of personal importance of their religious beliefs on the content of (Apocalyptic) delusions is made. We conclude that schizophrenia patients for whom their faith is of personal importance feel the coming end of the world more often than those for whom it is not. There is no significant difference found between gender or age factor on the development of the world end (Apocalyptic) delusions.