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Biomedical subjects

David Lester

Publications and source records attributed to David Lester.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2006

Suicide soon after generalized tonic-clonic seizure. A possible peri-ictal phenomenon?

We report the case of 36-year-old woman who had suffered from focal-unilateral right febrile grand mal since she was 9 months old as a result of neonatal asphyxia. Over the years, a modification of the clinical picture occurred and eventually the patient suffered from paranoid delusions that impaired her ability to work. After many years free from seizures, she experienced one day a generalized tonic-clonic seizure that required hospitalization and, soon thereafter, she committed suicide.

Epilepsy, Tonic-Clonic↗
PubMed2006

Hopelessness and suicide risk emerge in psychiatric nurses suffering from burnout and using specific defense mechanisms.

Burnout in psychiatric nurses is a phenomenon of great concern. We conducted an investigation of 120 nurses working in the psychiatric, general medicine/rehabilitation, and critical care/surgery wards to explore the correlations of level of burnout and defense mechanisms with hopelessness. The nurses were administered the Maslach Burnout Inventory, Gleser and Ihilevich's Defense Mechanisms Inventory, and Beck's Hopelessness Scale. The results indicate that burnout and some of the defense mechanisms predicted the level of hopelessness -- a predictor of suicide risk.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMed2006

Body modification and suicidal behavior.

In a large sample of individuals who belong to a website for body modification, having body modifications (e.g., piercings, tattoos, scarification and surgical procedures) was associated with a higher incidence of prior suicidality (i.e., suicidal ideation and attempted suicide). However, controls for self-reported depression weakened the strength of these associations.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2006

Suicide and islam.

Much of the research on suicidal behavior in Muslim countries has been simple descriptive studies of samples of completed and attempted suicides. Despite this, and despite the possible under-reporting of suicidal behavior in countries where such behavior is illegal, suicide rates do appear to be lower in Muslims than in those of other religions, even in countries which have populations belonging to several religious groups. Rates of attempted suicide, on the other hand, do not appear to be lower in Muslims as compared to non-Muslims. Research into this topic has been quite poor, failing to take into account the ethnic background and the Islamic sect to which the suicidal subjects belonged. Reasons for the low rate of completed suicide in Muslims are reviewed, including differences in values and socio-economic status.

Africa↗
PubMed2006

Suicide among indigenous peoples: a cross-cultural perspective.

The study of suicide in indigenous peoples is explored in different nations, both within nations containing many types of indigenous peoples and also across cultures. Some illustrations are given of how studies of indigenous peoples can be used both to test existing theories of suicide and generate new theories of suicide.

Attitude to Health↗
PubMed2006

Suicide in Siberian aboriginal groups.

A search of historical documents about suicide in Siberian tribes in the 18th and 19th centuries indicated that they had very high suicide rates. It would be of great interest to explore suicidal behavior in these tribes today.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2006

Understanding suicide through studies of diaries: the case of Cesare Pavese.

The diary left by Cesare Pavese covering the 15 years prior to his suicide is examined. The noteworthy pattern is that mention of failure with women was immediately followed in his diary by denigration of his literary work. Other features of his life, such as the loss of his father when he was six, are also discussed.

Emotions↗
PubMed2006

Optimism and pessimism in Kuwaiti and American college students.

BACKGROUND: Cross-cultural comparisons in optimism (O) and pessimism (P) are few. Kuwait and the United States have different languages, situations, history and culture. On this basis, there is good reason to hypothesise that there are significant differences between the two countries in O and P. AIMS: To explore the differences in, and correlates of, O and P in Kuwaiti and American college students. METHOD: Two samples of male and female undergraduates were recruited from Kuwait (N = 460) and the United States (N = 273). Their mean ages were 21.9 +/- 3.0 and 23.2 +/- 6.5, respectively. All respondents completed the Arabic Scale of Optimism and Pessimism (ASOP), the Suicidal Ideation Questionnaire, the Ego-grasping Scale, the Death Obsession Scale, the Kuwait University Anxiety Scale and the Arabic Obsessive-Compulsive Scale. Kuwaitis responded to the scales in Arabic, and Americans responded in English. RESULTS: The ASOP displayed good internal consistency, a meaningful factorial structure and interpretable factors in both countries. It was found that O correlated negatively with the above scale scores, while the correlations of P were positive, indicating the convergent validity of the ASOP. The Kuwaiti mean score on O was significantly lower than the mean of their American counterparts, and vice versa for P. CONCLUSION: The findings are explained in the light of previous results on personality and psychopathology questionnaires in Kuwaiti and American societies. There is a need to investigate O and P in different cultures.

Adult↗
PubMed2006

Social inequalities in suicide mortality: Spain and France, 1980-1982 and 1988-1990.

In this study we analyzed the socioeconomic differences in mortality from suicide in the economically active male population aged 25-64 years in Spain and France in 1980-1982 and 1988-1990; in the case of Spain the data came from the Eight Provinces Study (Regidor, Gutierrez-Fisac, & Rodríguez, 1995). Individuals were grouped into four categories: professional/managerial, clerical/sales/ service, agricultural, and manual workers. For 1980-1982, among those aged 25-44, professionals and managers had the lowest risk of mortality in Spain, and clerical/sales/service workers in France. These socioeconomic differences in mortality increased in 1988-1990. In 1980-1982, among those aged 45-64, clerical/ sales/service workers had the lowest risk of mortality from suicide relative to the other occupational groups in both countries, but this difference was not maintained in 1988-1990. Thus, differences in suicide mortality for men by occupational status depended in the present study upon both the nation studied and the time period chosen for study.

Adult↗
PubMed2006

Sex differences in completed suicide by schizophrenic patients: a meta-analysis.

A meta-analysis was conducted on all studies of suicide mortality in follow-up studies of schizophrenic patients that presented data for male and female patients separately. The percentage of deaths from suicide was significantly greater for the male schizophrenic patients than for the female schizophrenic patients in studies where both sexes were included. Regression equations devised to predict the percentage of deaths from suicide after all of the sample had died estimated that 0.50% of male schizophrenic patients would die from suicide as compared to 0.20% of female schizophrenic patients. Suggestions are made for future research.

Female↗
PubMed2006

Prefrontal cortex dysfunction and income: a study in neuroeconomics.

In four samples of adults, individual income was negatively associated with a measure of prefrontal cortex dysfunction even after implementing controls for age, sex, and education. The small association was stronger for men than for women. These results provide support for a neuroeconomic approach to the study of micro-economic variables.

Adult↗
PubMed2005

Mass homicide and suicide deadliness and outcome.

A study of 98 lone, rampage killers in the United States from 1949 to 1999 found that those who were killed by police officers killed and wounded more victims than those who completed suicide who, in turn, killed or wounded more victims than those who were captured. Those rampage killers who completed suicide were less likely to be judged schizophrenic and more likely to be killing present or former co-workers.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2005

An application of Durkheim's theory of suicide to prison suicide rates in the United States.

E. Durkheim (1897) suggested that the societal rate of suicide might be explained by societal factors, such as marriage, divorce, and birth rates. The current study examined male prison suicide rates and suicide rates for men in the total population in the United States and found that variables based on Durkheim's theory of suicide explained prison suicide rates better than suicide rates for total population. Possible reasons for these findings are discussed.

Birth Rate↗