Geographic distribution of suicide and railway suicide in Belgium, 2008–2013: a principal component analysis

This study investigated the geographic distribution of suicide and railway suicide in Belgium over 2008--2013 on local (i.e., district or arrondissement) level. There were differences in the regional distribution of suicide and railway suicides in Belgium over the study period. Principal component analysis identified three groups of correlations among population variables and socio-economic indicators, such as population density, unemployment, and age group distribution, on two components that helped explaining the variance of railway suicide at a local (arrondissement) level. This information is of particular importance to prevent suicides in high-risk areas on the Belgian railway network.     

辅导员在大学生自杀防控教育中的地位思考

一般情况下,有自杀动机的大学生是可以通过教育进行转化和管理防范的。高校辅导员应充分认识到自身在大学生自杀防控工作中的关键地位和作用。辅导员是大学生自杀防控教育的信息收集者、自杀防控的思想教育者、自杀危机的干预者,是大学生自杀防控的最基本、最关键、最有效的力量。     

被保险人自杀索赔问题的中美法律比较——解析新《保险法》第四十四条

各国保险法通常规定,人身保险合同的被保险人在合同成立或复效后的一段时间内自杀,保险人不承担赔偿保险金的责任。但该规定涉及三个争议点,即:被保险人死亡原因的举证责任分配;死亡原因的举证责任标准;自杀如是在精神疾病的控制下,保险人是否应该赔付。美国的处理方法是:人寿保险由保险人承担自杀的举证责任,意外伤害保险先由受益人证明被保险人死于意外,再由保险人承担证明自杀的举证责任。但死亡原因的证明标准各州不同,以适用优势证据原则为主,兼有适用排除合理疑问原则。当自杀是在精神疾病的控制下所为时,绝大多数州都依据现行的保单条款允许保险人拒赔,只有少数州在确认该精神疾病已使死者丧失辨别能力时要求保险人赔付。我国在2009年2月28日保险法修订前,对该问题的规定较为滞后,但在修改后有了很大提高,对该问题设定了较为妥帖的法律规范,为日后进一步完善奠定了坚实的基础。     

对1987-2010年我国老年人口自杀死亡的研究分析

利用人口死因的抽样调查资料和数次中国人口普查资料的年龄性别内插数据,对1987-2010年我国老年人口自杀死亡的趋势、城乡差异和性别差异作了分析,探讨了老人自杀死亡的原因,并提出了相关的防范措施。     

中国老年人口自杀问题研究

老年人口是自杀率最高的人群。中国老年人口自杀率存在显著的性别差异、城乡差异和年龄差异。将我国老年人口自杀率与全球已进入老龄社会的国家作了对比,提出老年人口自杀率的三种不同模型。虽然我国老年人口的自杀率整体上呈下降趋势,但农村老年人口和高龄老年人口的自杀率仍然很高。应对老年人口自杀问题,一方面应着力解决相关的老龄问题,消除与减少老年人产生自杀意念的诱因;另一方面,要重点关切高自杀风险的老年群体,特别是群体中的男性老人、农村老人和高龄老人;还要高度重视老年人精神健康问题与精神卫生工作。     

Do downturns cause desperation? The effect of economic conditions on suicide rates in Canada

There is conflicting evidence concerning the impact of macroeconomic conditions on suicide rates. To help resolve this pertinent question, we present evidence using Canadian data. We estimate feasible generalized least squares models of annual gender-specific suicide rates in the working age population (aged 25–64) using data from each of the 10 Canadian provinces over the period 1982 to 2007. We allow for heteroscedasticity across provinces and first-order autocorrelation common to all provinces. We posit that suicide rates in this population are a function of macroeconomic conditions (current and lagged unemployment rates and real per capita GDP) and other determinants that might be correlated with macro conditions, such as physician supply. We find that different factors affect suicide rates across genders and that some of the results are sensitive to the specification of the model we use and the regressors included. Generally, economic conditions affect men more than women; suicide rates are counter-cyclical and a higher supply of psychiatrists in a province is correlated with lower suicide rates.     

SOCIO‐ECONOMIC STUDIES ON SUICIDE: A SURVEY

Abstract In this paper, we review economic theories and empirical studies on the socio‐economic aspects of suicide. Through our survey, we would like to emphasize the importance of studying suicide by employing a ‘rational’ approach that complements the medical perspective on suicide. We first introduce major economic theories of suicide and then present a summary of a variety of empirical studies from the socio‐economic perspective. To shed light on the mixed empirical evidence, we employ a meta‐regression method to investigate how the existing empirical results vary. We have identified a publication bias, not highlighted previously, in the existing literature with respect to several commonly employed socio‐economic factors. Several characteristics of existing studies have been identified as influencing the qualitative outcome. We then discuss the recent developments in economic studies on suicide, on the basis of the authors’ ongoing project on suicide. In the concluding section, we point out some issues for further studies.     

Hospital management and costs of antidepressant overdose: multicentre comparison of tricyclic antidepressants and selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors

SUMMARY

There is ongoing debate regarding the relative cost effectiveness of different classes of antidepressants, but there has been little consideration of the cost of deliberate self-poisoning. We examined the cost of antidepressant overdose at six hospitals over a 5 month period and found that the cost of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor overdose was less than one-third that of tricyclic antidepressant overdose (mean cost per episode £173 versus £634). The cost of overdose is often ignored and should be considered in future analyses of the cost effectiveness of different classes of antidepressant.     

大学生心理健康教育途径探析

对于大学生自杀事件更多归因于90后、80后大学生心理素质脆弱、承受能力差等主观原因。调查发现众多大学生自杀者中毕业班占多数,毕业班的学生即将步入社会,面临择业、恋爱、承担家庭责任等多重压力,对未来的迷茫和对生活的无望等造成他们选择以自杀这种极端的方式结束生命,进而逃避现实。大学生是社会的人。他们的自杀行为看似是个人行为,但是,事实上与他们成长的家庭、学校、社会等外部因素有很大的关系。家庭、社会和学校都应为大学生的心理健康教育做出不断的努力。     

Impact of unemployment on happiness in the United States

This study considers the level of demonstrated happiness and unhappiness, the latter measured by the conditional probability of committing suicide within groups that are facing a higher unemployment rate and those that are not. Using individual-level US data from 1989 to 2004, our findings indicate that individuals have lower rates of suicide or are ‘happy’ when they live in a state that has lower unemployment rate.