Factor Structure of the Reasons for Attempting Suicide Questionnaire (RASQ) with Suicide Attempters

Hearing the voices of young people who self‐harm: Implications for service providers

“…; Fox & Butler ; Le Surf & Lynch ). Despite this being a concern for young people, it also appeared to perpetuate their negative feelings about self, creating further anxiety and the need to punish self (Holden & Delisle ; Scoliers et al . ; Skogman & Öjehagen ).…”

Is courage always a virtue? Suicide, killing, and bad courage

“…Likewise, studies of survivors of suicide attempts describe a variety of reasons why they did it. These include help-seeking (Bancroft et al, 1976;Dennis et al, 2007;Hjelmeland et al, 2002;Jacobson et al, 2013;Skogman & Öjehagen, 2003); escape from intolerable situations (Bancroft et al, 1976;Dennis et al, 2007;Hjelmeland et al, 2002;Jacobson et al, 2013;Skogman & Öjehagen, 2003) or from aversive self-awareness (Baumeister, 1990); gaining relief from a terrible state of mind (Bancroft et al, 1976(Bancroft et al, , 1979Dennis et al, 2007;Holden & DeLisle, 2006;Jacobson et al, 2013); trying to influence someone (Bancroft et al, 1976(Bancroft et al, , 1979Dennis et al, 2007;Hjelmeland et al, 2002;Holden & DeLisle, 2006;Jacobson et al, 2013); communicating hostility (Bancroft et al, 1979;Dennis et al, 2007;Jacobson et al, 2013;Skogman & Öjehagen, 2003), love (Dennis et al, 2007;Jacobson et al, 2013), or desperation (Dennis et al, 2007;Jacobson et al, 2013); a genuine wish to die (Bancroft et al, 1976(Bancroft et al, , 1979Hjelmeland et al, 2002;Skogman & Öjehagen, 2003); and, rarely, wanting to make things better for others (Skogman & Öjehagen, 2003).…”

The cost of social punishment and high-lethality suicide attempts in the second half of life.

“…As in Greek tragedy, it is often a solution to mounting conflicts, albeit at a catastrophic personal cost. These conflicts give rise to a range of social motivations, from a need to escape and relieve others of burden, to revenge and a wish to know that others care (Holden & Delisle, 2006). Our clinical experience suggests that a common precursor of suicidal behavior in old age is the tension between the need for support and care from children, and a distressing sense of dependence and being a burden.…”

“…In this context, poor social decisions may escalate conflicts and precipitate a suicidal crisis. Perceived unfairness is a common theme, and suicide notes often describe feelings of being treated unjustly (Etkind, 1997; Holden & Delisle, 2006). One of the patients in our study thus described the feelings leading to her suicide attempt: “I was extremely hurt, angry, and felt abandoned by everyone, including God… The unfairness of the situation … made me feel stupid and used.” At the same time, attempted suicide in late life has been associated with poor social problem solving (Gibbs et al, 2009), as well as life-long patterns of interpersonal struggles and difficulties connecting to family members and to the broader environment, frequently resulting in feelings of social isolation (Duberstein et al, 2004; Harrison et al, 2010; Szanto et al, 2012).…”