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Risk and Protective Factors for Suicide from a Cultural Perspective

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Suicide Risk Assessment and Prevention

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Abstract

The purpose of this study is to identify the suicide risk and protective factors among young adults from a cultural perspective, specifically Mexican women and men who have attempted suicide. Young adult population in Mexico has one with the highest suicide rates, 9.3 per 100 k inhabitants, and the suicide rate in Mexico is 5.4 per 100 k inhabitants.

Thirty-two young adults who had attempted suicide were interviewed. Participant’s thoughts, feelings, actions, interactions, and circumstances around contemplating and attempting suicide were documented. A qualitative interpretive analysis based on the grounded theory was conducted. Eight categories were constructed which group and organize the participants’ experiences regarding the causes, feelings, thoughts, actions, and circumstances related to suicide and suicide attempted.

The suicidal risk factors from the perspective developed in this study are mainly present in the family circle, characterized by a violent environment, lack of support, loneliness, precariousness, and silence. Under these family conditions, the persons at suicidal risk tend to establish an internal dialogue with themselves where their thoughts and feelings lead them to consider that there is no other way out, but to commit suicide. The community, comprised of the neighborhood, neighborhood associations, friends, school, and church, is an environment, poor in support resources, to which the participants do not usually turn. These social institutions do not offer accessible and timely support whenever the participants have resorted to them. The participants propose the following preventive measures: have a trustworthy person to be able to talk to about their situation, psychotherapeutic help, and family support.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Departament of Psychology, Education and Health, ITESO University, Guadalajara, Mexico

    Teresita Morfín-López

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  1. Teresita Morfín-López
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Correspondence to Teresita Morfín-López .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Neurosciences, Sapienza University of Rome, ROMA, Roma, Italy

    Maurizio Pompili

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Morfín-López, T. (2022). Risk and Protective Factors for Suicide from a Cultural Perspective. In: Pompili, M. (eds) Suicide Risk Assessment and Prevention. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-41319-4_8-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-41319-4_8-2

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-030-41319-4

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-030-41319-4

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Chapter history

  1. Latest

    Risk and Protective Factors for Suicide from a Cultural Perspective
    Published:
    30 April 2022

    DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-41319-4_8-2

  2. Original

    Risk and Protective Factors for Suicide from a Cultural Perspective
    Published:
    07 December 2021

    DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-41319-4_8-1

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