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Defense styles in depressed suicide attempters
Emmanuelle Corruble1, Marie Bronnec, Bruno Falissard
1Psychiatry Department, Bicêtre Hospital, Bicêtre, France. emmanuelle.corruble@bct.ap-hop-paris.fr
Psychiatry and Clinical Neurosciences
|May 20, 2004
Summary
Depressed patients who attempted suicide used more immature defense mechanisms, including projection and acting out. Identifying these defense styles may help predict suicide risk in depression.
Area of Science:
- Psychiatry
- Psychology
Background:
- Defense mechanisms are crucial in psychological functioning.
- Understanding defense styles in depression is vital for suicide risk assessment.
Purpose of the Study:
- To identify specific defense mechanisms associated with recent suicide attempts in depressed patients.
- To explore the relationship between defense styles and suicide risk in depression.
Main Methods:
- Defense Style Questionnaire (DSQ) administered to 156 depressed inpatients.
- Patients categorized into those with (n=60) and without (n=96) recent suicide attempts.
- Correlation analysis between depression intensity and defense styles.
Main Results:
- Depression intensity correlated negatively with mature defenses (humor, sublimation) and positively with projection.
- Suicide attempters showed significantly higher scores in immature defense styles, particularly acting out, passive aggression, autistic fantasy, and projection.
- No significant differences in sociodemographic or depression variables between attempters and non-attempters.
Conclusions:
- Immature defense mechanisms, such as projection and acting out, are linked to recent suicide attempts in depressed individuals.
- The Defense Style Questionnaire (DSQ) may serve as a clinical tool to identify high-risk patients.
- Further prospective studies are needed to confirm causality and refine clinical application.