C H A P T E R :10

Suicide

TO P I C OV E RV I E W
What Is Suicide?
How is Suicide Studied?
Patterns and Statistics

What Triggers a Suicide?

Stressful Events and Situations
Mood and Thought Changes
Alcohol and Other Drug Use
Mental Disorders
Modeling: The Contagion of Suicide

What Are the Underlying Causes of Suicide?

The Psychodynamic View
Durkheim’s Sociocultural View
The Biological View

Is Suicide Linked to Age?

Children
Adolescents
The Elderly

Treatment and Suicide

What Treatments Are Used after Suicide Attempts?
What Is Suicide Prevention?
Do Suicide Prevention Programs Work?

Putting It Together: Psychological and Biological Insights Lag Behind

LECTURE OUTLINE
I. SUICIDE IS A LEADING CAUSE OF DEATH IN THE WORLD
A. There are about 700,000 people who die of it each year, with more than 31,000 suicides per
year in the United States alone
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B. Many more (600,000 in the United States) unsuccessfully attempt suicide

1. Such attempts are called “parasuicide”
C. It is difficult to obtain accurate figures on rates of suicide, and many investigators believe
that estimates are often low
1. Many “accidents” may be intentional deaths
2. Since suicide is frowned upon in our society, relatives and friends often refuse to ac-
knowledge that loved ones have taken their own lives
D. Suicide is not classified as a mental disorder in the DSM-IV-TR
1. While suicide has been linked to depression, about half of all suicides result from
other mental disorders or involve no clear mental disorder at all

II. WHAT IS SUICIDE?

A. Shneidman defines suicide as an intentioned death—a self-inflicted death in which one
makes an intentional, direct, and conscious effort to end one’s life
B. He characterizes four kinds of suicide seekers . . .
1. Death seekers—clearly intend to end their lives
2. Death initiators—intend to end their lives because they believe that the process of
death already is underway
3. Death ignorers—do not believe that their self-inflicted death will mean the end of
their existence
4. Death darers—have mixed (ambivalent) feelings about death and show this in the act
itself
C. When individuals play indirect, covert, partial, or unconscious roles in their own deaths,
Shneidman classifies them in a category called “subintentional death”
1. In a related work, Menninger distinguished a category called “chronic suicide”

III. HOW IS SUICIDE STUDIED?

A. Suicide researchers face a major obstacle—their subjects are no longer alive
B. Two different strategies are used to try to overcome this obstacle (with partial success):
1. Retrospective analysis—a kind of psychological autopsy
2. Studying people who survive their suicide attempts

IV. PATTERNS AND STATISTICS

A. Researchers have gathered statistics regarding the social contexts in which suicides take
place
1. Suicide rates vary from country to country, with religious devoutness (not simply af-
filiation) helping to explain some of the difference
B. The suicide rates of men and women also differ:
1. Women have a higher attempt rate (3x men)
2. Men have a higher completion rate (3x women)
3. Why? Different methods have differing lethality
a. Men use more violent methods (shooting, stabbing, or hanging), compared to
women (drug overdose)
b. Guns are used in nearly two-thirds of the male suicides in the United States,
compared to 40 percent of the female suicides
C. Suicide also is related to social environment and marital status
1. One study found that half of the subjects who had committed suicide were found to
have no close friends
2. Divorced people have a higher suicide rate than married or cohabiting individuals
D. In the United States, suicide also seems to vary according to race
1. The suicide rate of white Americans (12/100,000) is almost twice as high as that of
African Americans, Hispanic Americans, and Asian Americans
2. A major exception to this pattern is the very high suicide rate of Native Americans,
which overall is 1.5 times the national average
 Suicide 133

V. WHAT TRIGGERS A SUICIDE?

A. Suicidal acts may be connected to recent events or current conditions in a person’s life
1. Although such factors may not be the basic motivation for the suicide, they can pre-
cipitate it
B. Common triggers include stressful events, mood and thought changes, alcohol and other
drug use, mental disorders, and modeling:
1. Stressful events and situations
a. Researchers have counted more stressful events in the lives of suicide at-
tempters than in the lives of nonattempters
b. One stressor that has been consistently linked to suicicle is combat stress
c. Both immediate stress and long-term stresses can be risk factors for suicide
(a) Immediate stresses can include the loss of a loved one, the loss of a job, or
natural disaster
(b) Long-term stresses can include:
(i) Serious illness—especially those that cause great pain or severe dis-
ability
(ii) Abusive environments from which there is little or no hope of escape
(iii) Occupational stress
1. Research has found particularly high rates of suicide among
psychiatrists and psychologists, physicians, nurses, dentists,
lawyers, police officers, farmers, and unskilled laborers
2. Work outside the home may be linked to lower suicide rates
among married women, contrary to previously held beliefs
2. Mood and thought changes
a. Many suicide attempts are preceded by changes in mood
(a) These changes may not be enough to warrant a diagnosis of a mental dis-
order
(b) The most common change is a rise in sadness
(c) Also common are increases in feelings of anxiety, tension, frustration,
anger, or shame
(d) Shneidman calls this “psychache”—a feeling of psychological pain that
seems intolerable to the person
b. Suicide attempts also may be preceded by shifts in patterns of thinking
(a) Individuals may become preoccupied, lose perspective, and see suicide as
the only effective solution to their difficulties
(b) They often develop a sense of hopelessness—a pessimistic belief that their
present circumstances, problems, or mood will not change
(c) Some clinicians believe that a feeling of hopelessness is the single most
likely indicator of suicidal intent
(d) People who attempt suicide also may experience dichotomous thinking—
viewing problems and solutions in rigid either/or terms
(i) The “four-letter word” in suicide is only, as in “suicide was the only
thing I could do”
3. Alcohol and other drug use
a. Studies indicate that as many as 70 percent of the people who attempt suicide
drink alcohol just prior to the act
b. Autopsies reveal that about 25 percent of these people are legally intoxicated
c. Research shows the use of other kinds of drugs may have similar ties to
suicide
4. Mental disorders
a. Attempting suicide does not necessarily indicate the presence of a psychologi-
cal disorder
(a) Nevertheless, the majority of all suicide attempters do display such a dis-
order
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(b) At greatest risk are those with mood disorders, substance use disorders,
and/or schizophrenia
5. Modeling: The contagion of suicide
a. It is not unusual for people, particularly teenagers, to commit suicide after ob-
serving or reading about someone who has done so
(a) One suicide appears to serve as a model for another
b. Suicides by celebrities, other highly publicized suicides, and co-workers are
particularly common triggers
c. Suicides with bizarre or unusual aspects often receive intense coverage by the
news media, possibly leading to similar suicides
d. Even media programs clearly intended to educate and help viewers may have
the paradoxical effect of spurring imitators
(a) Some clinicians argue that more responsible reporting and postvention
could reduce this effect

VI. WHAT ARE THE UNDERLYING CAUSES OF SUICIDE?

A. Most people faced with difficult situations never attempt suicide
B. In an effort to explain suicide-proneness, theorists have proposed more fundamental ex-
planations for self-destructive actions
1. Leading theories come from the psychodynamic, sociocultural, and biological per-
spectives
2. These hypotheses have received limited research support and fail to address the full
range of suicidal acts
C. The psychodynamic view
1. Theorists believe that suicide results from depression and from anger at others that
is redirected toward oneself
2. Additionally, Freud proposed that humans have a basic death instinct (“Thanatos”)
that operates in opposition to the life instinct
3. While most people learn to direct their death instinct toward others, suicidal people
direct it at themselves
D. Durkheim’s sociocultural view
1. Durkheim argued that the probability of suicide is determined by how attached
a person is to such social groups as the family, religious institutions, and community
a. The more thoroughly a person belongs, the lower the risk of suicide
2. He developed several categories of suicide, including egoistic, altruistic, and anomic
suicide:
a. Egoistic suicides are committed by people over whom society has little or no
control
b. Altruistic suicides are committed by people who are so well integrated into
their society that they intentionally sacrifice their lives for its well-being
c. Anomic suicides are those committed by people whose social environment fails
to provide stable structures to support and give meaning to life
(a) A major change in an individual’s immediate surroundings also can lead
to this type of suicide
3. Despite the influence of Durkheim’s theory, it cannot by itself explain why some people
who experience particular societal pressures commit suicide while the majority do not
E. The biological view
1. Family pedigree and twin studies support the position that biological factors con-
tribute to suicidal behavior
a. For example, there are higher rates of suicide among the parents and close rel-
atives of those who commit suicide than among nonsuicidal people
b. As always with this type of research, however, nonbiological factors, such as
shared environment, also must be considered
2. In the past two decades, laboratory research has offered more direct support for a bi-
ological model of suicide
 Suicide 135

a. Serotonin levels have been found to be low in people who commit suicide
(a) There is a known link between low serotonin and depression
(b) There is evidence, though, of low serotonin activity among suicidal sub-
jects with no history of depression
(c) One possibility is that low serotonin activity may contribute to aggressive
and impulsive behaviors

VII. IS SUICIDE LINKED TO AGE?

A. The likelihood of committing suicide increases with age, but people of all ages may try to
kill themselves
B. Although the general findings about suicide hold true across age groups, three groups
(children, adolescents, and the elderly) have been the focus of much study because of the
unique issues that face them
1. Children
a. Suicide is infrequent among children
b. Rates have been rising for the past several decades
(a) More than 6 percent of all deaths among children between the ages of 10
and 14 are caused by suicide
c. Boys outnumber girls by as much as five to one
d. Suicide attempts by the very young generally are preceded by such behavioral
patterns as running away, temper tantrums, social withdrawal, dark fantasies,
and marked personality changes
e. Despite common misconceptions, many child suicides appear to be based in a
clear understanding of death and on a clear wish to die
2. Adolescents
a. Suicidal actions become much more common after the age of 14 than at any ear-
lier age
b. About 1,500 teens commit suicide in the United States each year
(a) At least 1 in 12 makes suicide attempts
c. About half of teen suicides have been tied to clinical depression, low self-es-
teem, and feelings of hopelessness
(a) Anger, impulsiveness, poor problem-solving, substance use, and stress
also play a role
(b) Some theorists believe that the period of adolescence itself produces as
stressful climate in which suicidal actions are more likely
d. Far more teens attempt suicide than succeed
(a) The ratio may be as high as 200:1
e. Several explanations, most pointing to societal factors, have been proposed for
the high rate of attempts among teenagers
f. Teen suicide rates vary by ethnicity in the United States
(a) Young white Americans are more suicide prone than African Americans at
this age
(b) Rates are becoming closer
3. The elderly
a. In Western society the elderly are more likely to commit suicide than people in
any other age group
b. There are many contributory factors:
(a) Illness
(b) Loss of close friends and relatives
(c) Loss of control over one’s life
(d) Loss of social status
c. Elderly persons are typically more determined than younger persons in their
decision to die, so their success rate is much higher
d. The suicide rate among the elderly is lower in some minority groups in the
United States; especially Native Americans and African Americans
136 CHAPTER 10

VIII. TREATMENT AND SUICIDE

A. Treatment of suicidal persons falls into two categories:
1. Treatment after suicide has been attempted
2. Suicide prevention
B. What treatments are used after suicide attempts?
1. After a suicide attempt, most victims need medical care
2. Psychotherapy or drug therapy may begin once a person is medically stable
a. Many suicidal people fail to receive psychotherapy after a suicide attempt
3. Therapy goals are to keep the patient alive, help them achieve a nonsuicidal state of
mind, and guide them to develop better ways of handling stress
4. Various therapies and techniques have been employed
5. Cognitive and cognitive-behavioral therapies may be particularly helpful
C. What is suicide prevention?
1. There are hundreds of suicide prevention programs in the United States
2. There also are hundreds of suicide hotlines, 24-hour-a-day telephone services
a. Hot lines predominantly are staffed by paraprofessionals—persons trained in
counseling but without a formal degree
3. Both suicide prevention programs and suicide hotlines provide crisis intervention
4. The general approach includes:
a. Establishing a positive relationship
b. Understanding and clarifying the problem
c. Assessing suicide potential
d. Assessing and mobilizing the caller’s resources
e. Formulating a plan
5. Although crisis intervention may be sufficient treatment for some suicidal people,
longer-term therapy is needed for most
6. Another way to prevent suicide may be to limit the public’s access to common means
of suicide
a. Examples: gun control, safer medications, and car emissions controls
7. Do suicide prevention programs work?
a. It is difficult to measure the effectiveness of suicide prevention programs
b. Prevention programs do seem to reduce the number of suicides among those
high-risk people who do call
c. Several theorists have argued for more effective public education about suicide
as the ultimate form of prevention

LEARNING OBJECTIVES
1. Define suicide and know the current prevalence.
2. Describe each of the four kinds of people who intentionally end their lives: death seekers,
death initiators, death ignorers, and death darers. Also describe the category of subinten-
tional death.
3. Know the effects of cultural factors, race, and sex on suicide rates.
4. Understand the common precipitating factors in suicide.
5. Discuss how mood changes, hopelessness, and dichotomous thinking are related to suicide.
6. Describe the common predictors of suicide.
7. Give the psychodynamic view for suicide, including the role of Thanatos.
8. Explain the role of biological factors in suicide, including the role of serotonin.
9. Explain the role of sociocultural factors while comparing and contrasting Durkheim’s
three categories of suicide: egoistic, altruistic, anomic.
10. Discuss the characteristics of suicide prevention programs.
 Suicide 137

KEY TERMS
altruistic suicide death seeker retrospective analysis
anomic suicide dichotomous thinking subintentional death
anomie egoistic suicide suicide
crisis intervention hopelessness suicide prevention program
death darer paraprofessional Thanatos
death ignorer parasuicide
death initiator postvention

MEDIA RESOURCES
Abnormal Psychology Student http://www.suicideinfo.ca
Tool Kit This Canadian site, the Centre for Suicide Prevention,
is a library and resource center providing information
Produced and edited by Ronald J. Comer, Princeton on suicide and suicidal behavior.
University and Gregory Comer, Princeton Academic
Resources. Tied directly to the CyberStudy sections in
http://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/suicide/
the text, this Student Tool Kit offers 57 intriguing Video
index.html
Cases running three to seven minutes each. The Video
This is the Web site of the National Center for Injury
Cases focus on persons affected by disorders discussed
Prevention and Control. It includes a suicide fact sheet,
in the text. Students first view the video and then an-
prevention strategies, and publications focused on the
swer a series of thought-provoking questions. Addi-
topic of suicide.
tionally, the Student Tool Kit contains multiple-choice
practice test questions with built-in instructional feed-
back for every option. http://www.afsp.org/
This Web site is designed for the prevention of suicide.
It offers fundraisers and supports for those who are
suffering from suicidal thoughts or have had someone
PowerPoint Slides pass away. There is supporting research and education
for professionals and survivors as well.
Available at the Instructor’s site on the companion
Web site are comprehensive PowerPoint slide presen-
tations and supplemental student handouts for Chap- http://www.save.org/
ter 10. The slide files reflect the main points of the Suicide awareness/voices of education Web site which
chapter in significant detail. Student handouts were includes links and other information on suicide.
created using the instructor slides as a base, with key
points replaced as “fill-in” items. Answer keys and http://www.psycom.net/depression.central.
suggestions for use also are provided. suicide.html
This site contains links about suicide and suicide pre-
vention, and is maintained by a private individual.
Internet Sites
http://www.suicidology.org/
Please see Appendix A for full and comprehensive ref-
The Web site for the American Association of Suicidol-
erences.
ogy which is dedicated to the understanding and pre-
Sites relevant to Chapter 10 material are:
vention of suicide.
http://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/publications
This Web site, provided by the National Institute of http://www.hopeline.com
Mental Health, supplies downloadable links to PDF The Kristin Brooks Hope Center offers crisis support
files and booklets on a variety of mental health topics. and information on suicide.
138 CHAPTER 10

Mainstream Films Sylvia

This film stars Gwyneth Paltrow as the talented, trou-
Films relevant to Chapter 10 material are listed and bled and eventually suicidal poet Sylvia Plath. P, seri-
summarized below. ous film
Key to Film Listings:
The Virgin Suicides
P
psychopathology focus
From 2000 and set in the 1970s, this adaptation of Jef-
T
treatment focus
frey Eugenide’s novel deals with sexual attraction and
E
ethical issues raised
teen suicide. P, T, E, serious film
Please note that some of the films suggested may have
What Dreams May Come
graphic sexual or violent content due to the nature of
This 1998 film stars Robin Williams as a husband dis-
certain subject matter.
traught by the tragic death of his child. The later sui-
cide of his wife is a significant component of the film.
The Bridge P, serious film
A haunting documentary looking at the lives and
deaths of 24 people who died at the Golden Gate Whose Life Is It Anyway?
bridge in 2004. P, serious film From 1981, this film follows Ken Harrison (Richard
Dreyfuss), an artist paralyzed from his neck down in a
Dead Poet’s Society car accident. He goes to court for the right to commit
This 1989 film stars Robin Williams as an unconven- suicide. P, E, serious film
tional teacher in a strict prep school. The suicide of one William Shakespeare’s Romeo  Juliet
of his students is explored. P, E, serious film This 1996 Baz Luhrmann adaptation of the Shake-
speare classic stars Leonardo DiCaprio and Claire
Girl, Interrupted Danes as star-crossed, teen-aged lovers whose ill-fated
Based on an autobiographical novel by Susanna Kay- relationship ultimately ends in both their deaths. P, se-
sen, this film details the experiences of several women rious film
as patients in a psychiatric hospital in the 1960s. The
1999 film challenges the diagnosis of mental illness Other Films:
and the relationship between diagnosis and social About a Boy (2002) depression and suicide. P, commer-
norm violations. P, T, serious film cial/serious film
The Bell Jar (1979) anxiety and depression. P, T, serious
The Hours film
From 2003, this film stars Nicole Kidman as Virginia The Deer Hunter (1978) P, serious film
Woolf, Julianne Moore as a 1950s homemaker, and Love Liza (2002) suicide. P, serious/art film
Meryl Streep as a NY socialite—one of the common The Royal Tennenbaums (2001) suicide attempt. P, com-
links among them all is suicide. P, T, serious film edy/serious film
Sophie’s Choice (1982) depression. P, serious film
It’s a Wonderful Life
This film from 1946 stars Jimmy Stewart as George Bai- Comer Video Segments
ley, a small-town man whose life seems so desperate
he contemplates suicide. P, commercial film Available as a supplement, this revised set of video-
tapes contains short clips depicting various topics re-
lated to abnormal psychology. Please see the ac-
Leaving Las Vegas companying Video Guide for specific clips linked to
This 1995 film stars Nicolas Cage as a Hollywood Chapter 10.
screenwriter who has become an alcoholic. After being
fired, he takes his severance pay to Las Vegas, where
he plans to drink himself to death. P, serious film Recommendations for Purchase
Ordinary People
or Rental
This 1980 film examines the treatment of a teenager The Comer Video Segments include excerpts from
suffering from depression, anxiety, and posttraumatic many superb clinical documentaries. While the seg-
stress disorder in the aftermath of his brother’s death. ments alone are ideal for use in lectures, it often is use-
P, T, serious film ful to assign the entire documentary for special class
 Suicide 139

screenings or library use by students. The following Box 2053, Princeton, NJ 08543-2053
videos and other media are available for purchase or Phone 1-800-257-5126
rental and appropriate for use in class or for assign-
ment outside of class.
Calling Dr. Kevorkhian: A Date with Dr. Death
Films for the Humanities & Sciences
Don’t Kill Yourself Box 2053, Princeton, NJ 08543-2053
Films for the Humanities & Sciences Phone 1-800-257-5126

C L A S S D E M O N S T R AT I O N S
A N D AC T I V I T I E S
Case Study 334 in the text for more information). Have students
Present a case study to the class. present their case in class, following standard debate
guidelines.
Guest Speaker
Group Work: Examples of
Invite a crisis intervention worker (from a suicide hot-
line or prevention center) into your class to discuss “Suicidal Messages”
his/her work in the field. Divide students into groups, then ask each group to
come up with an example of either a popular song or
“It’s Debatable: Can Rock and Roll Inspire a movie that might influence someone to commit sui-
Suicide?” (see Preface instructions for cide. Discuss the examples with the whole class. After
several recognizable examples are generated, lead a
conducting this activity)
discussion on whether this could actually happen and
Have students volunteer (or assign them) in teams to whether a music group or movie producer could be
opposite sides of the debate topic (see Psych Watch, p. held responsible for a suicide.
318 in the text for more information). Have students
present their cases in class, following standard debate
Group Work:Who Decides?
guidelines.
Divide students into groups, then assign one of the fol-
“It’s Debatable:We Have the Right to lowing positions: (1) It should be legal (or illegal) for
doctors to help patients kill themselves. (2) It is a per-
Commit Suicide” (see Preface sonal decision about whether an individual chooses to
instructions for conducting this activity) die. (This can lead to heated opinions, so warn stu-
Have students volunteer (or assign them) in teams to dents about group work rules, such as respecting oth-
opposite sides of the debate topic (see Psych Watch, p. ers’ opinions and defending positions.)

S U G G E S T E D TO P I C S F O R D I S C U S S I O N
“The Right to Commit Suicide” explain such findings. Students can also be encouraged
Using Psych Watch (p. 334 in the text) as a platform, (or assigned) to follow-up the discussion with a re-
lead a discussion into the myriad issues surrounding search report (see the following).
assisted suicide.
Statistics and Suicide
“The Role of Occupational Stress” Discuss the accuracy of statistics on suicide. For exam-
Discuss the dramatically increased rates of suicide ple, might some national statistics be adjusted to ac-
among workers in certain occupations. Be sure to high- count for cultural beliefs and values? Ask students for
light psychologists and psychiatrists. Solicit theories to cultural or religious examples. How often are deaths
140 CHAPTER 10

listed as accidents instead of suicides to spare mourn- • Impulsiveness and emotionality, moodiness, un-
ers? May accidents sometimes be called intentional happiness, and lack of self-confidence
suicides? • An IQ above 135 (the Terman Genetic Studies of
Genius found that the rate of suicide among
gifted women was nearly 250 times that of the
Women at Risk for Suicide general population of women)
The chapter mentions that men are more likely than Contrast the list to the following, which are not indi-
women to kill themselves, but that women make three cators:
to four times as many attempts. What factors are in-
volved in the risk of suicide among women? Lead a • Any particular phase of the menstrual cycle
discussion of the following factors related to suicide. • Pregnancy (actually associated with lower risk)
• Loss of the mother through death or desertion be-
• A history of physical and/or sexual abuse fore age 20
• Major depression • Chronic stress in the family of origin, parental
• Borderline personality disorder (all personality conflict, and conflict in a woman’s relationship
disorders increase the risk for men) with her parents
• Loss of the father through death or desertion be-
fore age 20 (this factor is found in 50 percent of Open Discussion: Suicide and the Media
women who commit suicide but in only 20 per- Research suggests that suicide rates increase following
cent of other women) depictions or descriptions of suicides in the media
• European ancestry (twice the suicide rate of (e.g., in newscasts and movies). Many of these inci-
African Americans and other ethnic groups) dents have been well documented. Lead an open dis-
• Age at the middle of the life span (youngest and cussion on why this might happen. Alternatively, as-
oldest groups have the lowest rates) sign groups to take a position on whether there should
• Unemployment be oversight (censorship) of such media accounts.

ASSIGNMENTS/EXTRA CREDIT
SUGGESTIONS
“Field Experience Opportunity” Students can answer the questions directly into the on-
Students can volunteer as paraprofessionals at a crisis line assessment feature. The results of these quizzes re-
center or on a hotline for suicide prevention. Most cen- port to the site’s built-in grade book.
ters offer significant training and provide an excep-
tional opportunity for hands-on (though intense) work Web Site Quiz
with clients.
For homework or extra credit, have students complete
“Write a Pamphlet” the quiz for Chapter 10 located on the companion Web
site. Students can complete an on-line test of the key
With the use of a software program like Microsoft Pub- chapter material (using questions NOT from the test
lisher or simply paper and markers, students can cre- bank) and have their scores e-mailed directly to the
ate a pamphlet targeting suicide prevention. Students course instructor.
can focus on a specific age group or be more general.
Students should be encouraged to be as accurate and
up-to-date as possible and also to present all sides of Essay Topics
the disorder (e.g., alternate treatment approaches or
For homework or extra credit, have students write an
theories).
essay addressing one (or more) of the following topics:
Abnormal Psychology Student Tool Kit (1) Compare and contrast Shneidman’s four types of
Video Questions suicide seekers. Use media examples of each.
As a homework assignment, have students watch a (2) Discuss the right to commit suicide (Psych
video clip and answer the accompanying questions. Watch, p. 334 in the text). Do you agree or dis-
 Suicide 141

agree? Are there any circumstances where ending try. What theories have been posited to explain
one’s life is acceptable or unacceptable? such findings?
(3) Discuss the “Black Box Controversy” as listed in
A Closer Look (p. 329 in the text). Do antidepres-
sants cause suicide? Web-Based Case Studies
Nine Web-based case studies have been created and
posted on the companion Web site. These cases de-
Research Topics scribe the individual’s history and symptoms and are
For homework or extra credit, have students write a re- accompanied by a series of guided questions which
search report addressing one (or more) of the follow- point to the precise DSM-IV criteria for each disorder.
ing topics: Students can both identify the disorder and suggest a
course of treatment. Students can be assigned the ap-
(1) Research and report on cross-cultural views of propriate case study and questions as homework or for
suicide (Eye on Culture, p. 326 in the text). What class discussion. The case relevant to Chapter 10 is ref-
do theorists believe are the main determinants of erenced below.
the suicide rate?
(2) Research and report on the practice of mass sui-
cide. What are common links seen among these The Case of Ellen: Depression and Suicidality
groups? How did the media/culture react to the
event?
(3) Conduct a “Psych Info” search and write an an- Crossword Puzzles
notated bibliography on research into suicide As a homework assignment or for extra credit, have
prevention. What are the various strategies being students complete and submit Crossword Puzzle #10.
investigated? What are the limitations of the re-
search?
(4) Research has shown increased rates of suicide Word Searches
and suicide attempts among workers in different As a homework assignment or for extra credit, have
occupations, especially psychology and psychia- students complete and submit Word Search #10.