Browsing by Author "Kurko, Julia"

Suicidal behavior is a complicated psychological phenomenon that is important to be studied. Suicidal behaviors include ideation of suicide, attempting suicide and committing suicide. Suicide is the second leading cause of death among young adults. Many people are affected by suicide, either directly or through losing a loved one. People who experience suicidal behavior often suffer from different psychiatric symptoms. The present study examined the associations between different suicidal behaviors and psychiatric disturbance measured with the 12-item General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12), and the association of suicide ideation and attempts with mental illness diagnoses. The sample was a population based random sample of Finnish young adults. Among 679 young adults, 80 reported having previously thought about suicide and 41 reported having previously attempted suicide. GHQ-12 sum scores were positively associated with a likelihood of having thought about suicide or attempted suicide. No association was found for suicide attempt likelihood among those who had suicidal thoughts. Three of the individual GHQ-12 items were associated with suicidal behavior. These items were the feeling of being unable to overcome difficulties, being able to enjoy daily activities and feeling worthless. Of these items, the ability to enjoy daily activities was also associated with a lower likelihood of having attempted suicide among those with suicidal thoughts. A diagnosis of mental illness was associated with a higher likelihood of having thought about, or attempted suicide. It was also associated with a higher likelihood of having attempted suicide among those with suicidal thoughts. The results indicate that psychiatric disturbance and mental illness are associated with suicidal behavior. However, psychiatric disturbance does not seem to be associated with suicide attempt probability among those who have suicidal thoughts. It seems possible that there are qualitative differences between suicide ideation and suicide attempts and suicide attempt risk does not increase linearly with increase in psychiatric disturbance. Future research should look into differences between suicidal thoughts and suicide attempt risk and examine specific factors, such as the ability to enjoy daily activities, in their relation to suicidal behavior.