Social Support And Suicide Attempt [rede De Apoio Social E Tentativa De Suicídio]

Aim: To asses the support network of people that attempted suicide and were being seen at the emergency room of a general hospital, and compare it to the people who accompanied other kind of patients in the same place. Methods: Twenty-nine people (14 males and 15 females) were assessed consecutively in each group. The instruments used were: TS-PS (a questionnaire on suicide attempts) which included demographic and clinical data, the Social Support Questionnaire (SSQ), the Social Support Scale (self-rating), the GAS and the Garf, Results: The mean age of the individuals of the suicide attempt (SA) group was 37,4. Most attempts (11) involved drug overdosis, self-poisoning (ten) and cutting (eight). This group had a low suicide intention and lethality. 34,5% were married and in control-group 51.7% were too. The individuals of the AS group were more frequently receiving psychiatric treatment (41.4% vs 17.2%) and psychotropia drug (55.2% vs 13.8%). The number of people perceived as supportive by the AS was on average one and trhee by the control-group. The AS group report more dissatisfaction towards their relationships. These findings are in line with the worse figures of the AS group on the Garf and GAS. Conclusions: Our finding confirms the hypothesys that people who attempt suicide have a far weaker social support as to compared to the control-group. They also do not feel needed in the support of other people and have more difficulties in the performance of social roles.514233240Barakat, L.P., Linney, J.A., Children with physical handicaps and their mothers: The interrelation of social support, maternal adjustment, and child adjustment (1992) Journal of Pediatric Psychology, 17 (6), pp. 725-739Bille-Brahe, U., Wang, A.G., Attempted suicide in Denmark II (1985) Social Integration Social Psychiatry, 20, pp. 163-170Bille-Brahe, U., Social support among European suicide attempters (1999) Archives of Suicide Research, 5, pp. 215-231Bille-Brahe, U., (1993) WHO/Euro Multicentre Study on Parasuicide: Facts and Figures, , Copenhagem: EURI/ICP/PSF 018 WHOBloom, J.R., The relationship of social support and health (1990) Soc. Sci. Med., 30 (5), pp. 635-637Bowling, A., Measuring social networks and social support (1997) Measuring Health: A Review of Quality of Life Measurements Scales. 2. Ed., pp. 91-109. , Bowling, A. (ed.) Buckingham: Open University PressBotega, N.J., Tentativas de suicidio e adesão ao tratamento: Um estudo descritivo em hospital geral (1995) Jornal Brasileiro de Psiquiatria, 44 (1), pp. 19-25Calderon, R., Grennberg, M.T., Stress and copping in hearing mothers of children with hearing loss: Factors affecting mother and adjustment (1999) American Annals of the Deaf, 144 (1), pp. 7-18Cobb, S., Social support as a moderator of life stress (1976) Psychosomatic Medicine, 38, p. 300Cohen, S., Syme, S.L., (1985) Social Support and Health, , Londres: Academic Press, 390pCohen, S., Wills, T.A., Stress, social support and buffering hypothesis (1985) Psychological Bulletin, 98 (2), pp. 310-357D'Attilio, J.P., Social support and suicide potencial: Preliminary findings for adolescent populations (1992) Psychological Reports, 70, pp. 76-78(1995) DSM IV - Manual Diagnóstico e Estatístico de Transtornos Mentais, , APAEndicott, J., Fleiss, J.L., Cohen, J., The global assessment scale (GAS) (1976) Archives of General Psychiatry, 33, p. 766Eskin, M., Suicide behaviour as related to social support and assertiveness among Swedish and Turkish high school students: A cross-cultural investigation (1995) Journal of Clinical Psychology, 51 (2), pp. 158-172Hamlett, K.W., Pellegrini, D.S., Kats, K.S., Childhood chronic illness as a family stressor (1992) Journal of Pediatric Psychology, 17 (1), pp. 33-47House, J.S., Kahn, R.L., Measures and concepts of social support (1985) Social Support and Health, pp. 83-105. , Conhen, S.Symes, S. L. (orgs.). Academic PressKaplan, H.I., Sadok, B.J., (1997) Compêndio de Psiquiatria. 2. Ed., pp. 477-489. , Porto Alegre: Artes MédicasPearlin, L.I., The sociological study of stress (1989) Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 30, pp. 241-256Rapeli, C.B., (1997) Características Clínicas e Demográficas de Pacientes Internados Por Tentativa de Suicídio No Hospital de Clínicas Da Unicamp, de Outubro de 1995 a Setembro de 1996, , Tese (Mestrado) - Faculdade de Ciências Médicas da Unicamp, Campinas-SPSarason, I.G., Assessing social support: The social support questionnaire (1983) Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 44, pp. 127-139Sherbourne, C.D., Stewart, A.L., The MOS social support survey (1991) Social Science and Medicine, 32, pp. 705-714Veiel, H.O.F., The social support of suicide attempters: The different roles of family and friends (1988) American Journal of Community Psychology, 16 (6), pp. 839-86