State University of New York College at Buffalo

Department of Sociology

Professor Zhang Jie, Ph.D.

 

Soc 393: Sociology of Mental Illness

 

Study Guide Number 4

 

Review of the Study Guides 1-3

 

Mental Disorder and Suicide in the World

 

Definition of Suicide by Durkheim

•      Self act

•      Directly or indicatively

•      Purpose of death

 

Precipitating circumstances for suicide in the United States

•      Intimate partner problem

•      Physical health problem

•      Job problem

•      Financial problem

•      Disclosed intent to take their life

 

The most common methods of suicide in the United States

•      Firearm

•      Suffocation

•      Fall

•      Poisoning

•      Cut/piece

 

WHO on Suicide in the World

•         Suicide is the act of deliberately killing oneself

•         Risk factors for suicide

ό  mental disorder

    such as depression, personality disorder, alcohol dependence, or schizophrenia

ό  physical illnesses

    such as neurological disorders, cancer, and HIV infection

•         There are effective strategies and interventions for the prevention of suicide

 

The World Suicide Data

•         Every year, almost one million people die from suicide; a "global" mortality rate of 16 per 100,000, or one death every 40 seconds.

•         In the last 45 years suicide rates have increased by 60% worldwide.

•         Suicide is among the three leading causes of death among those aged 15-44 years in some countries, and the second leading cause of death in the 10-24 years age group.

•         These figures do not include suicide attempts which are up to 20 times more frequent than completed suicide.

 

Global Burden of Disease from Suicide

•         Suicide worldwide is estimated to represent 1.8% of the total global burden of disease in 1998.

•         Although traditionally suicide rates have been highest among the male elderly, rates among young people have been increasing to such an extent that they are now the group at highest risk in a third of countries, in both developed and developing countries.

 

Suicide Etiology

•         Psychiatric Model: Mental disorders (particularly depression and alcohol use disorders) are a major risk factor for suicide in Europe and North America.

•         Sociological Model: Social structure, social facts, and social problems.

•         Psychological Model: Impulsiveness plays an important role in Asian countries.

•         Social Cultural Model: Suicide rates remain the same over time regardless of social change.

Suicide is complex with psychological, social, biological, cultural and environmental factors involved.

 

Suicide Rates in the World: The lowest five in the world

•         Granada

•         Honduras

•         Saint Kitts and Nevis

•         Antigua and Barbuda

•         Haiti

 

Suicide Rate in the United States: 12/100,000

•         Over all

•         By gender

•         By age

 

Distribution of suicides rates by gender and age in the United States

 

Evolution 1950-2000 of global suicide rates in the world

 

Changes in the age distribution of cases of suicide in the world

 

Suicide rates in China 1995-1999

 

Suicide rates in China 1987-2008

 

Suicide rates and depression

•         2005 Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans

•         During war time

•         The week after September 11, 2001

•         The debatable findings in the effect of SSRI

•         Suicide rates in the US over past decades

•         The decline of Chinese suicide rates in the past 15 years

 

Suicide: Durkheim concluded that

•         Suicide rates are higher in men than women.

•         Suicide rates are higher for those who are single than those who are married.

•         Suicide rates are higher for people without children than people with children.

•         Suicide rates are higher among Protestants than Catholics and Jews.

•         Suicide rates are higher among soldiers than civilians.

•         Suicide rates are higher in times of peace than in times of war

•         Suicide rates are higher in Scandinavian countries.

•         the higher the education level, the more likely it was that an individual would commit suicide. However Durkheim established that there is more correlation between an individual's religion and suicide rate than an individual's education level; Jewish people were generally highly educated but had a low suicide rate.

 

Four types of suicide by Durkheim

•         Egoistic suicide

•         Altruistic suicide

•         Anomic suicide

•         Fatalistic suicide

 

Durkheimanism on integration and regulation

 

Depression and Suicide

•         Over 90% of the suicide in the West could be diagnosed with a mental illness.

•         About 50% of the suicides in China could be diagnosed with a mental Illness.

 

Understanding the Constant Rates in the US and the Decreased Rates in China

•         Treatments of depression and other mental disorders in the US?

•         Treatments of depression and other mental disorders in the China?

•         Pesticides control in China?

 

The Strain Theory of Suicide

 

The four sources of strain for suicide and mental disorders

•         Source 1: Differential Values  from differential values

•         Source 2: Reality vs. Aspiration from the discrepancy between aspiration and reality

•         Source 3: Relative Deprivation from the relative deprivation

•         Source 4: Deficient Coping from deficient coping skills in the face of a cri

 

The theoretical foundation of the strain theory of suicide

•         Cognitive dissonance theory

•         Strain theory of crime

 

The Social Psychological Model of Suicide

•         Strain

•         Suicide

•         Moderators

•         mediators

 

Measuring the Strains That Lead to Suicide

 

Measures of Value Strain

•         Modernity vs. traditionalism

•         Mainstream religion and cult values

•         Liberal and conservative

 

Measures of Aspiration Strain

•         Finance

•         Work

•         Family/marriage

•         Church

•         School

•         Etc.

•         Self comparisons

 

Measures of Deprivation Strain

•         Economy

•         Status

•         Family

•         Education

•         Religion

•         Etc.

•         Comparing with others

 

Measures of Coping Strain: (Moos’s Coping Response Inventory)

 

Mental Disorders and Psychopathology as Mediators

•         Major Depression

•         Other Mental Disorders

•         Anxiety

•         Hopelessness

 

Prevention from the Upper Stream

 

Strain Reduction Therapy: Take It Easy!

 

Conclusions on the Strain Theory of Suicide

•         High rates in China 20 years ago

–        Rural areas

–        Rural young women

•         Rapid overall decrease of rates in China

–        Decrease in rural areas

–        Decrease for women

•         Depression and Suicide: Comorbidity

–        Depression, not the cause of increase

–        Depression, not the reason for decrease

•         Reduction of the Strain

–        Natural

–        Manipulated

 

The Theoretical Foundation of the Strain Theory of Suicide:

•         Reference and Perception: Towards Social Relativism

 

Development of the Social Relativity Perspective

•         Structural Functionalism

•         Conflict Theory

•         Symbolic Interactionism

•         Exchange Theory

•         SOCIAL RELATIVITY

 

Social Relativity

•         Nature of Relationship

•         Everything is relative

•         Each perception is based a reference

Additional to Western based sociology

 

Four Propositions for the Reference Theory

•         1. Any perception is based on a reference.

•         2. No reference, no perception.

•         3. One’s perception can be manipulated by changing the reference

•         4. As a new perspective, the reference theory can be complementary to all other existing social and behavioral theories.

 

Albert Einstein on Reference Theory