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Suicide, Schizophrenia, and Schizoid‐Type Psychosis: Role of Life Events and Childhood Factors
Author(s) -
Tousignant Michel,
Pouliot Louise,
Routhier Danielle,
Vrakas Georgia,
McGirr Alexander,
Turecki Gustavo
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
suicide and life‐threatening behavior
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.544
H-Index - 90
eISSN - 1943-278X
pISSN - 0363-0234
DOI - 10.1111/j.1943-278x.2010.00002.x
Subject(s) - schizophrenia (object oriented programming) , psychiatry , psychology , psychosis , humiliation , clinical psychology , social psychology
The first objective was to identify the provoking events of suicide in patients with schizophrenia or schizoid‐type disorder, and to assess the humiliation component of these events. The second objective was to verify if quality of care during childhood is a vulnerability factor for suicide in patients with schizophrenia or schizoid‐type psychosis. Thirty‐three cases of suicide with a diagnosis of schizophrenia or schizoid‐type psychosis were compared with 34 living patients with a similar diagnosis. The psychological autopsy method was used. The assessments were made with the Structured Clinical Interview for the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual for Axis I mental disorders, the Life Events and Difficulties Schedule, and the Child Experiences and Child Abuse Interview. The suicide group (SG) experienced more often a recent severe event, usually of a humiliation nature, than the control group (CG). It also experienced more severe events associated with aggressive behavior or with psychiatric impairment. Contrary to expectations, the CG had worse scores than the SG for quality of care during childhood. In conclusion, suicide in schizophrenia is related both to environmental stress and to psychiatric impairment.