Parental bereavement after suicide and accident: a comparative study.

In what way is the bereavement process following suicide different from other types of bereavement? The participants were 30 survivors of suicide and 30 survivors of car accidents who were interviewed twice at an average of six months, and the second measure was taken at an average of nine months after the death, with standardized questionnaires to measure depression and grief reaction. Measures of shame, social support, family adaptation, psychological distress, and prior losses were also obtained during the second interview. All survivors were parents who had lost a son aged between 18 and 35 years. The results indicate that suicide survivors were more depressed than accident survivors at the first measure but this difference disappeared at the second measure. Survivors of suicide experienced greater feelings of shame and had experienced more life events after the death than did accident survivors. There was also a greater history of loss in parents bereaved by suicide. Parental bereavement after suicide appears to differ in several ways from other types of bereavement and appears to happen more often in vulnerable families.

[Preliminary presentation of psychopathologies : appellation contrôlée.]. / « Prévention primaire des psychopathologies ¼ : appellation contrôlée.

Psychosocial prevention is often, and mistakenly, disparaged or approached with unwarranted familiarity. A number of factors could provide a partial explanation for this mistake: confused rea-tions to the medical model, an unfortunate association of the terms "preventive" and "community," lack of distinction between three levels of prevention, misunderstandings around the concept of risk factor, and an overly general definition of the concept of promotion. One specific fact about psychopathology is that it does not fit well into the dichotomous "before / after" appearance of symptoms. This is why the preventive field must identify its targets in terms of etiological rather than symptomological factors. Thus, for us, true prevention must include only proactive interventions meant either for neutralization of pathological influences, or for promotion of areas that are aimed at making the population healthier.

[After suicide: a unique mourning experience?]. / L'après-suicide, une expérience unique de deuil?

Canada's national task force on suicide suggests that people who mourn a suicide make up a group that is itself at risk. Literature shows that mourners of a suicide have a suicide rate that is nine times higher than average. While some authors suggest that this type of mourning is more intense and of a longer duration that for other types of mourning, other authors doubt this hypothesis. But what happens in reality? Is suicide mourning truly different from other types of mourning? Is it really a unique mourning experience? These are some of the questions the authors of this article have attempted to answer. Following an in-depth review of studies on the matter, the authors conclude that the mourning of a suicide encompasses certain characteristics that manifest themselves especially in more vulnerable people.

Alexithymia and symbolic function in the obese.

Based on recent literature in which obesity is considered a psychosomatic disease, the authors present results of a study attempting to identify the degree of alexithymia and symbolic function inhibition in two overweight groups (moderately and morbidly obese) and compare the results with a normal-weight control group. The sample was composed of 95 subjects divided into three groups. The results revealed that the two obese groups were generally more alexithymic and had a higher degree of symbolic function inhibition than normal-weight controls. Nevertheless, the two alexithymia measures used in this study disclosed inconsistent results. The data are discussed in terms of etiological, methodological and treatment implications.

Homicide followed by suicide: a Quebec case series, 1988-1990.

Homicide followed by suicide is a rare but tragic event. Psychiatrists and mental health professionals are often called upon to comment publicly on the event or to help the "hidden victims," the survivors of the tragedy. There were 39 such cases in Quebec between 1988 and 1990, and they have been reviewed through the examination of the coroner's files. The epidemiological rates of homicide, suicide, homicide-suicide and the sociodemographic and clinical characteristics of the perpetrators and victims are presented and compared with the international literature. Sociological and psychopathological hypotheses are presented with a special reference to the possibility of various subgroups of perpetrators. Research needs to be pursued along the lines of more detailed case studies of psychopathological characteristics using the psychological autopsy approach. The reconstruction of the couple's relationship and of the final circumstances leading up to the tragedy may provide warning indices that could be helpful in preventing such tragedies.