Citation

Williams M. Psychiatr. Danub. 2006; 18(Suppl 1): 32.

Affiliation

University of Oxford, Warneford Hospital, OX3, 7JX, Oxford, UK. mark.williams@psych.ox.ac.uk.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2006, Facultas Universitatis Studiorum Zagrabiensis - Danube Symposion of Psychiatry)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

16963883

Abstract

Prediction of suicidal behaviour is difficult because many of the variables that are associated with suicide ideation and behaviour are long-term trait features such as chronic hopelessness. However, evidence suggests that these variables can rapidly increase in a crisis, but can also decrease rapidly thereafter. The cognitive reactivity (differential activation) theory suggests that it is both the ease with which small changes in mood can activate dysfunctional patterns of thinking, and the content of what comes to mind during such periods of turbulent mood that determine risk of suicidal behaviour. This paper reports data from ongoing studies of people who have been suicidal when depressed examining their "between episode vulnerability" using mood challenge. Results show the pathways leading into the suicidal process: that those with a history of suicidal ideation or behaviour are particularly likely to show impaired problem solving when mood is challenged. They also show us how some people are more resilient to crises: the ability to retrieve specific autobiographical memories can act as a "safety net" when mood begins to decline.

Language: en