Suicide and cognitive distortions

Abstract

The process of preventing suicidal acts has been studied thoroughly. There are few studies concerning cognitive mechanisms preceding suicidal actions. Suicidal behaviour consists of complexity of biological, psychological, and social factors. The transition of these factors to suicide attempt appears to be determined by cognitive processes. In this article the authors give a short review of relevant literature. To answer the question whether there are specific suicidal cognitive distortions, the authors compared a group of suicidal patients with a matched control group. In the last section of the paper they analyse their data obtained by comparing the two groups using a set of tests.

Keywords

• suicide
• cognitive distortions
• dysfunctional attitudes
• coping strategies