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Student suicide: death as a life style
The Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease
|March 1, 1975
Summary
Seriously suicidal college students develop a maladaptive coping mechanism where death becomes an integral part of their life. This is often rooted in family dynamics perceived as demanding emotional extinction.
Area of Science:
- Psychology
- Clinical Psychology
- Developmental Psychology
Background:
- College students represent a vulnerable population for serious suicidal ideation and behaviors.
- Understanding the psychological underpinnings of suicide attempts is crucial for effective intervention.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the psychological factors contributing to serious suicidal ideation in college students.
- To explore the long-term adaptation patterns and origins of suicidal behavior in this demographic.
Main Methods:
- A 5-year longitudinal study of 50 college students with a history of suicide attempts.
- Utilized in-depth interviews and a battery of psychological tests including Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale, Rorschach, Thematic Apperception Test, Sentence Completion, Figure Drawing, and Word Association.
Main Results:
- Identified that for these students, death has become an integrated aspect of their life adaptation.
- Traced the origin of this adaptation to perceived family relationships requiring emotional extinction.
- Suicidal ideation intensifies when life events threaten to disrupt these entrenched family dynamics.
Conclusions:
- The study highlights a profound psychological adaptation where suicidal ideation serves to maintain a perceived connection to parents.
- Therapeutic interventions should address these deep-seated family relationship patterns and the 'death knot' phenomenon.