Mental pain and its communication in medically serious suicide attempts: an "impossible situation".
BACKGROUND
The study of near-fatal suicide attempters may provide insight into the minds of suicidal subjects. Our aim is to test the hypothesis that mental pain is a general risk factor for suicidal behavior and communication difficulties are a particular risk factor for medically serious suicidal behavior.


METHODS
Thirty five subjects who made medically serious suicide attempts were compared with 67 medically not serious suicide attempters and 71 healthy controls. All were interviewed with the SCID-I and completed questionnaires covering mental pain, communication difficulties and seriousness of suicide attempt.


RESULTS
Variables from the mental pain domain (e.g. depression) predicted the presence of suicidal behavior, and variables from the communication difficulties domain (e.g., self-disclosure) predicted the lethality and seriousness of the suicide attempts.


CONCLUSIONS
Relatively small number of patients with medically serious suicide attempt and the relatively large number of questionnaires which may to some extent have diminished informant reliability.


CONCLUSIONS
Problems with sharing of feelings with others are an important risk factor for near-lethal suicide, over and above the contribution of psychiatric illness and mental pain, including depression and hopelessness.
Levi
Yossi
Y
The Feinberg Child Study Center, Schneider Children's Medical Center of Israel, Petah Tikva, Israel and Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel. Josef.Levi@gmail.com
Horesh
Netta
N
Fischel
Tzvi
T
Treves
Ilan
I
Or
Evgenia
E
Apter
Alan
A
D000328:Adult; D000342:Affective Symptoms / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology*; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001294:Attitude to Health; D035061:Control Groups; D003863:Depression / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology; D039721:Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders; D004644:Emotions; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D008016:Life Change Events; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D008960:Models, Psychological; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D012307:Risk Factors; D012650:Self Disclosure; D013406:Suicide, Attempted / Q000145:classification / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires