Citation

Hennings JM. Nervenheilkd. 2022; 41(4): 230-239.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2022, Georg Thieme Verlag)

DOI

10.1055/a-1758-8212

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Background While suffering from a high burden of disease and seldom receiving specific treatment, chronically suicidal patients challenge health care providers. Nevertheless, the definition of chronic suicidality is fuzzy according to current literature, and it is unclear what it implicates with respect to suicide risk and treatment.

METHODS Different perspectives of chronic suicidality are presented including psychological mechanisms and motives, neurobiology, therapy, and the assessment of suicide risk.

RESULTS Data do not assume that acute and chronic suicidality differ with respect to psychological functions. Nevertheless, chronic implies potential reinforcement mechanisms that are responsible for the development and maintenance of suicidal symptomatology. The Dialectic Behavioral Therapy and Acceptance Commitment Therapy have shown to reduce suicidality in chronic suicidal patients while they are not yet sufficiently applied and validated across diagnoses. The term chronic may not be used to stratify patient's suicide risk.

DISCUSSION While different aspects of chronic suicidality are highlighted, several others are not. Further, there is a lack of clinical studies that are urgently needed to improve availability of effective anti-suicidal interventions and reduce the individual burden of disease. © 2022. Thieme. All rights reserved.

Language: de

Keywords

human; suicidal behavior; risk assessment; borderline personality disorder; symptomatology; behavior therapy; health care personnel; reinforcement; Chronic suicidality; Article; DBT; psychological well-being; cognitive behavioral therapy; disease burden; behavioral analysis; reinforcement (psychology)