[SUICIDES DURING PSYCHIATRIC HOSPITALIZATION - CHARACTERISTICS AND WAYS OF COPING].

INTRODUCTION: It is known as a circumstantial background to suicide that patients with psychiatric disorders admitted to a psychiatric hospital are at risk of suicide. Most of the reasons offered for suicide during hospitalization link them to the circumstances of the need for psychiatric hospitalization: the existence of a significant mental disorder and the condition of a crisis, that in many cases, cover a complete life span: psychological, social and medical. In Israel, the multi-year average number (1990-2013) of suicides during psychiatric hospitalization is about 13.6, which account for 3.4% of the total of 400 suicide incidents per year. It reflects one suicide incident in 1,614 hospitalizations. Hanging and then jumping are the most common suicide methods during hospitalization. Other common measures are self-suffocation, overdose of drugs, self-ignition, vein / arterial cutting. The highest risk group is of schizophrenic patients that express one of the following manifestations: depressive symptoms, suicidal attempts in the past, and a history of many hospitalizations. The most prominent risk factors identified among all patients are a history of self-harming attempts, feelings of hopelessness, guilt, sense of inadequacy, low mood, suicidal thinking, and a history of suicide in the family. The response of the psychiatrists and the treatment teams to a suicide event in their unit is traumatic, at a level that significantly affects future therapeutic decisions, decreases morale in the team, and even affects the quality of their personal lives. The two most important tools for preventing suicide during hospitalization are: firstly, reducing the availability of measures in the context of the hospitalization medium, ie, creating a physically safe environment that includes appropriate design of walls, ceilings, doors, toilets and showers. A second tool is the therapeutic relationship and its level of availability.

Patients behind the front lines: the exchange of mentally-ill patients in the 1948 Arab-Israeli War.

The British Mandate in Palestine ended abruptly in 1948. The British departure engendered a complex situation which affected all areas of life, and the country's health system was no exception. Gradual transition of the infrastructure was almost impossible owing to the ineffectiveness of the committee appointed by the United Nations. The situation was further complicated by the outbreak of the Arab-Israeli War. We relate for the first time the story of 75 Jewish patients who were left in a former British mental hospital in Bethlehem - deep behind the front lines. Despite the hostilities, there were complex negotiations about relocating those patients. This episode sheds light on the Jewish and Arab relationship as it pertained to mental institutions during and immediately after the British Mandate.

Postpartum hospitalization of psychotic parents with their infant: a case study.

BACKGROUND: Parents with mental illness are at risk for exacerbations during the postpartum period. The management of family members needing concurrent psychiatric hospitalization is unclear. This article describes the advantages and difficulties of a family hospitalization, focusing on the splitting processes in the staff and the use of "couple ego functions'. DATA: A couple, simultaneously psychotic after the sequential births of two children, were hospitalized separately after the birth of the first child, and simultaneously in the same room after the birth of the second child. RESULTS: The hospitalization of the couple with their infant led to a shorter, less stressful hospitalization, and strengthened the functioning of the family unit. CONCLUSIONS: Simultaneous hospitalization of family members is feasible and may lead to better clinical results.