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The subjective perception of the association between psychotic experiences and suicidal behavior among young adults

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  31 January 2020

M. Lehmann ,
B. Nam ,
M. Hilimire  and
J. E. DeVylder Open the ORCID record for J. E. DeVylder [Opens in a new window]
M. Lehmann
Affiliation:
School of Social Work, University of Maryland, Baltimore, MD, USA
B. Nam
Affiliation:
School of Social Work, University of Maryland, Baltimore, MD, USA Department of Social Welfare, Yonsei University, Seoul, Korea
M. Hilimire
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, College of William and Mary, Williamsburg, VA, USA
J. E. DeVylder*
Affiliation:
School of Social Work, University of Maryland, Baltimore, MD, USA Graduate School of Social Service, Fordham University, New York, NY, USA
*
*Address for correspondence: J. E. DeVylder, Graduate School of Social Service, Fordham University, 113 W 60th Street, New York, NY 10023, USA. (Email: jdevylder@fordham.edu)
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Abstract

Objectives

Psychotic experiences such as hallucinations and delusions are reported by approximately 7.2% of the general population, even in the absence of a psychotic disorder. Individuals who report such psychotic experiences are significantly more likely to endorse suicidal ideation and behavior across several large epidemiological samples. This study aimed to determine whether individuals who reported psychotic experiences and suicidal behavior would subjectively endorse a causal relationship between these two clinical phenomena.

Methods

Five open-ended questions were asked via online survey to 12 college students who had previously reported both hallucination-like experiences and suicidal behavior in a quantitative survey. Thematic analysis was used to analyze open-ended responses.

Results

The majority of respondents, n (%) = 11 (91.6), did not endorse a notable subjective relationship between psychosis and suicidal ideation or suicide attempts. However, respondents did spontaneously report that stigma and fear may drive suicidal ideation among people who report psychotic experiences and other symptoms of psychological distress.

Conclusions

These findings are generally inconsistent with the hypothesis that psychotic experiences are directly related to suicidal behavior, and are consistent with the alternative hypothesis that both psychotic experiences and suicidal behavior are indicators of common underlying factors such as general psychological distress, potentially exacerbated by stigma.

Keywords

Psychotic disorderssocial stigmasuicideyoung adults
Type
Short Report
Information
Irish Journal of Psychological Medicine , Volume 40 , Issue 2 , June 2023 , pp. 239 - 244
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2020. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of The College of Psychiatrists of Ireland

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