Suicide-Related Behaviour - Understanding, Caring And Therapeutic Responses

The book is an attempt to make sense of suicide related behaviour in terms of understanding its aetiology and how practitioners can respond in a caring and therapeutic manner. The last 30 years the data gathered has consistently indicated that suicide is a leading cause of death in young people especially men. Alongside this, the incidence of self harm, which has always been high, does not seem to be abating. Some professionals argue that attempted suicide and self harm are both the same entity. This book puts forward that they are two sides of the same coin and this coin is called suicide-related behaviour. This is a general term used in the book to describe all behaviours where the person intended to kill or harm themselves. In doing so relevant issues within the phenomenon of suicide-related behaviour and specific to both self harm and attempted suicide will be explored and addressed.

Columba McLaughlin is the author of Suicide-Related Behaviour: Understanding, Caring and Therapeutic Responses, published by Wiley.

Preface.


Chapter 1 A personal reflection on suicide-related behaviour.


Chapter 2 Contemporary Issues.


i) Suicide-Related Behaviour – The Ultimate Contradiction.


ii) Ethical issues in Suicide-Related Behaviour.


iii) Legal and Religious Laws.


iv) Attitudes to Suicide-Related Behaviour.


v) Competency in Interpersonal Skills.


Chapter 3 Clarifying the Terminology.


i) The problem with too many terms.


ii) Suicide Intent.


iii) Lethality of Method.


iv)Ambivalence.


v) Risk-Taking Behaviour.


vi) The concept of Suicide-Related Behaviour.


vii) Death orientated suicide-related behaviour.


viii) Life orientated suicide-related behaviour.


Chapter 4 Suicide-Related Behaviour.


i) What is suicide-Related Behaviour.


ii) Understanding suicide-related ideation.


iii) Understanding Attempted Suicide.


iv) Understanding Suicide.


v) Understanding Self-Harm.


vi) Repetitive Self-Harm.


Chapter 5 The Descent into Crisis.


i) Why Suicide-Related Behaviour.


ii) Theoretical Perspectives on Stressors.


iii) The biological perspective.


iv) The psychological perspective.


v) The psychoanalytical perspective.


vi) The psychodynamic developmental perspective.


vii) The cognitive perspective.


viii) The situational or stressful life events perspective.


ix) The social integration perspective.


x) The mental ill-health perspective.


xi) Crisis.


Chapter 6 Responding to Crisis.


i) A person’s response to crisis..


ii) The biological response to stressors.


iii) Coping abilities as buffers against stressors.


iv) Cognitive and emotional responses as buffers against stressors.


v) Social support as a buffer against stressors.


vi) Positive attitude as a buffer against stressors.


vii) Individual differences as buffers against stressors.


viii) The person’s behavioural response to crisis.


ix) Help seeking behaviour - Contact with the caring services.


x) Stressor resolved.


xi) Stressor unresolved - Crisis.


Chapter 7 Caring Responses to suicide-related behaviour.


i) The case for a caring response.


ii) Personal qualities of the practitioner.


iii) The skills required in the therapeutic relationship.


iv) An example of a caring response.


Chapter 8 Therapeutic Responses to suicide-related behaviour.


i) A medical response – Medications..


ii) A therapeutic response.


Additional notes.


The assessment..


Set induction.


Assess events leading up to admission.


Assess personal history.


The care plan.


iii) A therapeutic response – Problem management..


iv) A therapeutic response – Challenging negative cognitions..


The initial assessment.


Making the A – C link.


Making the B – C link.


v) A caring and therapeutic response to self-harm..


Reference List.


Subject Index.