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Abstract
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Suicide by its very nature is a crisis situation. This is true whether we are speaking about a suicide that is already in process, a suicidal individual or a person who makes vague threats to commit suicide. In each case, the person is overwhelmed by a problem in his life, and suicide becomes a means to find a solution.
Since most of the therapeutic efforts by the therapist to cope with the suicidal patient are based on crisis theory, it may be well to briefly discuss some of the concepts that have been developed in this area. Most of these have been developed by Eric Lindeman and Gerald Kaplan although extensions of their theory are to be found in the work of Hausman and Rioch. The conceptual framework of crisis theory, as expressed by Kaplan, is based on the concept that an individual is normally in a state of relative equilibrium. This state is maintained through the use of behavioral patterns with which the individual is familiar and which allow him to interact with the environment, solve his problems, maintain a type of homeostatic balance or a point of equilibrium on a continuum of mental health. One end of this continuum represents various types of mental health illness and the other, the theoretically mentally healthful individual. Where the individual will be on this continuum will depend on his life style, the way he handles crises, the type of living he does, his normal response to stress, etc. When facing a problem of his everyday life, the individual may become upset, but he usually is able to return to his point of balance on the mental health continuum. These temporary upsets are generally solved by means of previously learned problem solving techniques or various means of coping behavior. When he is confronted by a problem situation in which the previously used methods of restructuring his life or his environment are either not available to him or he is not successful in his obtaining a point of equilibrium, the individual is confronted by a critical situation, that is, one which he is uncertain concerning its end or resolution. The individual is then in an emotionally hazardous situation and is rapidly moving toward a state of crisis. The crisis, it must be remembered, is not the situation itself, but is the person's response to it. The critical issue of the crisis, then, is the psychological state in which the individual lives. Uncertainly is the essential core of a crisis, not knowing where he is or what he needs to do, or can do, to solve the problem and to regain his point of equilibrium on the mental health continuum...
Language: en |