Cognitive psychological theories of suicidal behaviour

Abstract

Suicidal behaviour is a consequence of simultaneous influences of many factors. Basically it can be regarded as a consequence of an interplay of two risk factors, namely genetic and environmental, which express themselves in the form of sociological, biological and psychological factors. It is difficult to find a theory of suicidal behaviour which would cover or consider all factors, and although present theories are overlapping, they emphasize different risk factors. More recent studies are focusing on neuropsychological and cognitive functioning of suicidal persons. The most cited psychological theory of suicidal behaviour is the Cry of Pain model which understands the suicidal behaviour as a consequence of a situation signaling defeat, entrapment and no rescue, which subsequently can lead to feelings of hopelessness. The psychobiological theory of two vulnerability components of sucidal behaviour extends existing psychological theories and helps to understand why some persons with depressive disorder engage in suicidal behaviour and the other don't. Both theories imply impaired cognitive abilities in suicidal persons. It is still not entirely understood if these cognitive impairments can be regarded as a state or a trait feature. What happens with cognitive functions after the initial crisis is over, explains the Theory of differential activation. The purpose of the present paper is to introduce and combine these theories and discuss their practical implications.

Keywords

• suicide
• cognitive ability
• depression