Module Assignment #12 - Suicide
“It's not that people don't know when they'll die.
It's that they don't seem to know they'll die.”
― Raheel Farooq
12.1 - Overview
Suicide
Why do people kill themselves? The common connection among people who kill themselves is a belief that suicide was the only solution to a overwhelming feelings of dispair and hopelessness. The attraction of suicide is that it will once and for all end unbearable feelings. The tragedy of suicide is that those same intense emotional distress often blinds people to alternative solutions---other solutions that were are almost always available!
Some say suicide is an epidemic and again on the rise. 2012 data suggests that 800,000 to one million people commit suicide worldwide each year. According to 2012 Centers for Disease Control (CDC) US figures [there is no current CDC data for 2013 or 2014]: (1) suicide was the 10th leading cause of death in the United States; (2) the total number of suicide deaths was 40,600 or one every 12.9 minutes in the US; (3) the 2012 age-adjusted rate was 12.5 per 100,000; and (4) more people die from suicide than in car accidents. From a total of 2.9 million US deaths in 2011: 24% of all deaths were from diseases of the heart; 23% of all deaths were from cancer; 6% of all deaths were from respiratory disease; 5% of all deaths were from stroke related disease; 5% of all deaths were from accidents; 3% of all deaths were from Alzheimer's disease; 3% of all deaths were from diabetes; 2% of all deaths were from influenza and pneumonia; 2% of all deaths were from chronic kidney disease; and nearly 2% of all deaths were from suicide. It is interesting to note that suicide outnumbered homicides by 3 to 2. Also, there were twice as many deaths due to suicide than deaths due to HIV/AIDS.
The purpose of Homework Assignment #12 is to: (a) provide you with an appreciation and understanding of the impact that suicide has upon the lives of people and, (b) to provide you with "hands on experience" in learning about the many dynamics of those who attempt and commit suicide and upon the survivor victims of suicide.
Topics include theories of suicide, types of suicide, risk factors, lifespan considerations, and prevention strategies.
Caution - Please keep in mind, that while minimum length is suggested for each task assignment, a length of several times the minimum is generally necessary to obtain good to exceptional grades. Always be sure to weave in solid scholarship, as evidenced from the text and Website readings, and be certain to "compare and contrast" what you have learned. This will help to assure me that you in fact are learning each week. Thank you.
12.2 - Using The Internet To Conduct Psych Research
Researching Thanatology
Theme - In this "Internet Research Project," you are to seek out one of the following: (a) a scientific journal article, (b) a national media article or, (c) a Website that discusses, provides a fact sheet, or reports other such findings.
Task - Using one or more of the above resources, discuss some aspect of suicide. Such topics might include warning signs, risk factors, types of suicide, suicidal thoughts and notes, suicide over the lifespan, and treatment and prevention strategies. Your report is to be in the form of a "discussion paper" of at least one to three typed, double-spaced pages.
You are urged to use the Internet exclusively, though you may use Plover Library or other such "land-based" resources.
Commentary - Emile Durkheim (1858-1917), the French sociologist, wrote in his book Suicide, "Each victim of suicide gives his act a personal stamp which expresses his temperament, the special conditions in which he is involved, and which, consequently, cannot be explained by the social and general causes of the phenomenon." And while standing trial for assisting terminally ill patients commit suicide, Jack Kevorkian, sometimes called the "suicide doctor," was quoted in the Washington Post, (May 28, 1994), as saying, "When your conscience says law is immoral, don’t follow it." And finally Ernest Renan (1823-1892), the French writer, critic, and scholar wrote, "I can die when I wish to: that is my elixir of life."
Clearly the topic of suicide is a complicated one. That is why it is important to understand the many shades of suicide. To better understand suicide, it is helpful to be mindful of the warning signs.
The link that follows takes your specifically to a site that discusses "suicidial warning signs." The other links are more generic for this overall exercise.
Suicide - Know The Signs Links to an external site.
Links to an external site.National Suicide Prevention Lifeline Links to an external site.
12.3 - Psychology Based Websites
Using Internet Tools To Learn About Death and Dying
Tasks - For the following psychologically oriented Website(s), report back what you learned from exploring any one of the many sub-categories listed. A tighly written paragraph--or better yet a typed, double-spaced page--sharing what you learned and what your reactions were, would be most appreciated.
Professor's Favorite Section: The first link is a good all around general link to death and dying. The second, third, and fourth links provide you with good insights into the sad and tragic world of suicide. The second link takes you to the American Association of Suicidology, where a meaningful array of information may be found. The third link is a discussion of "Suicide Statistics and Facts" provided by GenPsych, a consumer oriented website. The fourth link --- Suicide Rates Rise Sharply in U.S.--- is from a New York Times article discussing the increase in isuicides. And the fifth link provides a potentially "life-saving" discussion about suicide prevention strategies.
National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization
Links to an external site.
American Association of Suicidology
Links to an external site.
Suicide Statistics and Facts
Links to an external site.
Suicide Rates Rise Sharply in U.S. - New York Times, 2013
Links to an external site.
American Foundation For Suicide Prevention
Links to an external site.
12.4 - Reading Assignment
Chapter 12 "Suicide"
Your primary textbooks include The Last Dance (10th ed.) by Lynne Ann DeSpelder and Albert Lee Strickland (New York: McGraw, 2014) and Grieving Days, Healing Days, by J. Davis Mannino (San Francisco, California: TeddyBear Publishing, 2013).
Primary Readings
As you read Chapter 12, "Suicide," you should keep in mind the following key questions and core concepts.
Content Overview
1. It is generally agreed that official suicide statistics understate the actual number of suicides, perhaps by as much as half. Such underrepresentation is due to social stigma against suicide, the need for unequivocal proof before classifying a death as suicide, suicides that masquerade as accidents or victim-precipitated homicides, and sensitivity to survivors’ concerns, as well as to differences in the manner in which coroners’ and medical examiners’ investigations of possible suicides are conducted in different jurisdictions.
2. The psychological autopsy is a potent investigative tool for improving suicide statistics as well as enhancing knowledge about the factors that influence suicidal behavior.
3. Theoretical approaches to explaining suicide are based mainly on a sociological model (focusing on the relationship between the individual and society) and a psychological model (focusing on the dynamics of an individual’s mental and emotional life). A comprehensive understanding of suicide makes use of both models.
4. Typologically, suicidal behavior can be classified as an escape from some mental or physical pain, as due to impaired logic caused by clinical depression or psychosis, as the unconscious result of chronic or subintentional factors hastening death, and as a cry for help in alleviating some problem.
5. There may be two fairly distinct populations of people engaging in suicidal behaviors: attempters and completers. It must be recognized, however, that any suicide attempt can end in death.
6. Culture, personality, and the unique combination of circumstances affecting a particular individual’s life each play a role in determining the degree to which a person may be at risk of suicide; neurobiological correlates may also be important as a risk factor in suicide.
7. The varying risk of suicide also corresponds to changes in outlook and circumstance that occur throughout the lifespan. Suicide among adolescents and young adults is viewed as a major public health problem.
8. The likelihood of a fatal outcome increases as a suicidal person plans his or her demise and acquires the means to carry out the plan; as the potential lethality of the method increases, the more likely the outcome will be death. There is an “order of lethality” among the various methods people employ when engaging in suicidal behavior.
9. Suicide notes reflect a range of concerns by people who kill themselves, from simple reminders directed to survivors about carrying out ordinary tasks to complex explanations about why the person chose to end his or her life. A sense of ambivalence is a hallmark of many suicide notes.
10. Suicide prevention, intervention, and postvention are important avenues for reducing the incidence of suicidal behavior and easing the pain of loss for people who are bereaved as a result of a loved one’s suicide.
11. When helping a person in suicidal crisis, one must listen carefully to what the person is communicating, both verbally and behaviorally, and offer compassion and support.
Chapter Objectives
1. To identify potential suicide populations.
2. To construct a comprehensive definition of suicide.
3. To explain statistical issues affecting the reporting of suicide.
4. To examine the purposes of the psychology autopsy.
5. To describe the sociological and psychological models of suicide.
6. To list and describe three types of suicide and to give examples of each.
7. To explain the risk factors influencing suicide through the lifespan.
8. To describe various methods of suicide and to analyze them for information regarding the suicidal person's intent.
9. To create a model of suicide intervention.
10. To plan a suicide postvention strategy.
11. To identify ways to help a person who is in suicidal crisis.
Key Terms and Concepts
altruistic suicide
ambivalence
anomie
attempted suicide
biological markers
chronic suicide
cluster suicides
copycat suicide
crisis suicide
cry for help
depression
double suicides
dyadic nature of suicide
egoistic suicide
equivocal death
fatalistic suicide
hopelessness
intervention
lethality
mass suicide
middlescence
period effect
postvention
psychache
psychodynamics of suicide
psychological autopsy
rational suicide
referred suicide
seppuku
social context of suicide
subintentioned death
suicidal crisis
suicidal ideation
suicide note
suicide pact
suicide prevention
surcease suicide
suttee
victim-precipitated homicide
Werther effect
Questions For Guided Study and Evaluation
1. Cite at least two statistics concerning the frequency of suicide.
2. Evaluate the four definitions of suicide given in the text.
3. Identify the purposes and limitations of the psychological autopsy.
4. Summarize the four types of suicide in the sociological model postulated by Émile Durkheim.
5. Describe the psychological model of suicide with attention to the roles of ambivalence and aggression.
6. Define psychache.
7. List and analyze at least three cultural and three individual meanings of suicide.
8. Differentiate between intentioned, unintentioned, and subintentioned deaths, identifying at least two specific patterns in each category.
9. Identify and explain at least three categories of risk factors for suicidal behavior.
10. Identify typical motives for suicide at each stage of the lifespan: childhood, adolescence and young adulthood, middle adulthood, and late adulthood.
11. Define and distinguish cluster suicides, copycat suicide, and suicide pacts.
12. Interpret the various meanings that potentially influence choice of suicidal method.
13. Distinguish between suicide prevention, intervention, and postvention.
14. Assume that you are confronted by a person who tells you he or she is contemplating suicide. Make a list of the information you would like to obtain and discuss your plan of action for responding to this individual.
Task 12.4 - In the section above entitled: "Questions For Guided Study And Evaluation," briefly discuss any two questions you wish. Be sure to have enough length and quality to properly respond to each question.
Related Link -
"It is not worth the bother of killing yourself, since you always kill yourself too late," said Rumanian-born French philosopher E. M. Cioran (1911-) in his book entitled The Trouble with Being Born (1973). So too, U. S. humorous writer, Dorothy Parker (1893-1967) penned in her book Re'sume':
"Razors pain you;
Rivers are damp;
Acids stain you;
And drugs cause cramp.
Guns aren’t lawful;
Nooses give;
Gas smells awful;
You might as well live."
The subject of suicide is littered with serious debate --euthanasia, physician-assisted suicide, overly prescribed pain medications, etc. The following Website takes a look at one particularly odd but emerging form of suicide --- "suicide by cop." The first link is a discussion and definition of "suicide by cop." The second link shows a TV news station's video coverage of an actual case. It is NOT graphic, just a walk through of what police believe happened.
Task - Provide at minimum, a half-page, typed, and double-spaced reaction to what you discover and learned at this Website.
Suicide By Cop! - Definition
Links to an external site.
Suicide By Cop! - News Video Link
Links to an external site.
Practice Quiz - Chapter #12
In this section you will find a practice quiz for each assigned textbook chapter in The Last Dance. The quiz is presented in a link below.
Psych 56 - Chapter #12 Quiz - Suicide
12.5 - Online Exam #3
Chapters 7, 8, & 9
"Online Exam #3," like the other exams, is a restricted "time stamp" exam. By this it is meant that each exam is unlocked at a certain time and must be completed and submitted within a certain timeframe--"time stamped." The exam is then locked again. Once you take an online exam and press the "submit" button, your exam will automatically be graded and the results sent back to you at the email address you provided after all exams have been reviewed, graded, and added to the course gradebook by your professor.
Though the five exams are open book, you will not be successful in completing these online exams successfully if you have not read and studied the assigned chapters--this is just a simple fact!
The links below takes you to both "Practice Exam #3" and "Actual Online Exam #3" --- know the difference! If on exam day you are submitting the actual exam be sure you click on the correct link --- "Actual Online Exam #3.
Psych 56 - Practice Exam #3 (Chapters 7, 8, & 9)
Psych 56 - Actual Online Exam #3 (Chapters 7, 8, & 9)
12.6 - "Grieving Days, Healing Days" - The Workbook
Learning Through "Hands-On" Doing
Overview
Grieving Days, Healing Days, is an interactive workbook written by Dr. J. Davis Mannino, 2013 (Formerly, Boston: Simon & Schuster, 1996). It is required for this course, because specific pages in the workbook are assigned as part of each homework assignment that you chose to complete.
Assignments to complete in Grieving Days, Healing Days will be listed in this section for each of the 16 homework assignments. Generally speaking, assignments are due by the assigned date. This workbook is loaded with readings, exercises, and activities that will enhance your learning of many important topics in the study of death and dying --- a field that is better known as "thanatology."
It is also important to remember that certain workbook pages will be required reading for assignments that you choose to complete. Therefore, always review and read workbook readings for each of the homework assignments you choose to complete as part of the course requirement. Choose assignments that fulfill your overall course requirement from GDHD.
Workbook Reading Assignment
1. Review Grieving Days, Healing Days, and become familiar with it.
2. At minimum, read and complete ANY THREE of the following assignments in Grieving Days, Healing Days. This only applies to those HW assignments you are completing as part of the course requirement. They may also be credited towards your overall course workbook requirement as well. Please note that all online homework assignments must, at minimum, still be read and reviewed.
How Much Do You Know About Suicide, p. 155
Youth and Suicide, p. 161
Writing A Suicide Note, p. 163
12.7 - Course Discussion Board
Module #12 - Thought Provoking Question (TPQ) or Article
Overview - The purpose of a course discussion board is to allow students and professor an opportunity to interact about topics of common interest. A discussion board is also a fine tool to share commonly asked questions, answers, and concerns.
You are urged to use the message board, when you have questions that you think others may wish to know; when you have technical questions or answers that others may wish to know, and to share other useful tidbits with each other. I want each of you to become familiar with the message board system.
Once you have composed your thoughts and written them down in a word application program [i.e., Microsoft word] --- with grammar and spell check---you follow through with posting (copy and pasting) them. Remember, to be sure you also post your comments in the appropriate place in the task boxes that links later in this assignment. You only do this if you are also submitting this ENTIRE assignment as one of your required four online assignments for this course.
Task - In each class module, there will be one thought-provoking course related question or article for which discussion is expected from students. While not always directly related to assigned readings, they have important course-wide implications. You are expected to respond to each TPQ by the end of each class module's deadline Be sure to place the question/article module number (#) in the "subject line" so your classmates will know which module topic you are addressing.
Since there is only one "thought-provoking question or article " (TPQ) due per module during the regular semester, a minimum response of 250 to 500 words is required for each message board TPQ posting. Also, students need to post a TPQ for EACH of the 15 online assignments.
This Assignment's Thought Provoking Question (TPQ) or Article
The following link is a graded assignment for the TPQ. (1) Click on the link below, (2) read the TPQ or article, and then (3) respond in the student posting area provided at the end of the article.
Thought Provoking Reading #12 - "Suicide..."
12.8 - Assignment #12 "Blue Book" Responses
Composing Your Responses To Assignment #12 in Module #12
Overview - For each course module there is a major homework assignment that must be completed. Each of these module homework assignments has several tasks. Some entail reading, some include exploring and reviewing websites, reviewing videos, and still others involve written tasks --- work that must be submitted for review and/or grading.
Responses to "tasks" must be sent on time or you will either fail the assignment or be severely penalized. Late homework assignments are perceived as both a student who is "absent from class" and "late with work." Please always maintain a backup copy of all your written work. Glitches occur in online technology-based education, but ultimately it is your responsibility to maintain adequate backup of all work submitted. You are also encouraged to compose your work within a word-processing application and then "copy and paste" into "task boxes." This is so you may avail yourself of spell and grammar check options provided in most modern word processing software.
Please be aware that all submissions are automatically received by the course "gradebook," where they will be evaluated by your professor for acceptance, rejection, or acceptance with penalty. So make sure your work is received promptly. Much the same way that attendance is determined by you presence in the traditional classroom at the regularly scheduled class time, so too is attendance determined by your prompt submission of assignments while enrolled in an online course. Furthermore, arriving to class without homework or with incomplete homework is also perceived in the same manner with an online course. Accordingly, you are encouraged to submit you weekly work prior to deadlines, to avoid computer glitches, "downtime," and other "technological spills and inconveniences."
Directions - Each numbered task box listed below corresponds with tasks described in each module's homework assignment. Usually, tasks outlined on this webpage require written reactions and/or responses.
Be sure to follow directions carefully and precisely when completing each task. "A word to the wise!" Minimal work receives a minimal grade. For example, if a task asks that you provide a written paragraph or two, and you provide just that, then you have provided only minimal work. Simply said, minimal work is "C" work. Well thought out writing that exceeds both excellence and minimal length (word count) and quality requirements is, generally speaking, graded higher and indicative of a "good and solidly motivated student." However length in of itself does not assure quality either, so learn to strike a balance. Good luck!
Particulars - Remember this module is due by a certain date or will be penalized. Overly late assignments may NOT be accepted at all, and at minimum, marked down. The discretion of the professor rules in all such matters. Was your assignment "Online and Ontime?" Before beginning this first homework assignment be sure you understand the word count and quality requirements (1500 to 3000 words depending on grade desired). See Grading Policy in Course Basics at the Course Syllabus for further information regarding requirements and grading of module submissions.
Module Assignment #12 "Blue Book" [Graded Responses Go Here]
Distance Education office at Santa Rosa Junior College, Santa Rosa, CA USA