Hostname: page-component-8448b6f56d-42gr6 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-25T00:02:09.327Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Hostility and Deliberate Self-Poisoning: The Role of Depression

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2018

R. Farmer
R. Farmer*
Affiliation:
St Mary's Hospital; , University College Hospital, Gower Street, London WC1E 6AU
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The evidence for an association between hostility and deliberate self-poisoning is reviewed. Although the concept of hostility is poorly defined and different measuring instruments may not measure the same entity, self-poisoning subjects as a group appear to have very high levels of hostility. However, depression is also associated with hostility and when studies have taken into account the psychiatric diagnosis of overdose patients it is outwardly-directed hostility which distinguishes these individuals from other psychiatric patients or normals. A model is proposed to show the inter-relationships of hostility, depression and self-poisoning.

Type
Review Article
Information
The British Journal of Psychiatry , Volume 150 , Issue 5 , May 1987 , pp. 609 - 614
Copyright
Copyright © 1987 The Royal College of Psychiatrists 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Abraham, K. (1911) Notes on the psychoanalytical investigation and treatment of manic-depressive insanity and allied conditions. In Selected Papers on Psychoanalysis. London: Hogarth Press (1927).Google Scholar
Abraham, K. (1924) A short study of the development of the libido. In Selected Papers on Psychoanalysis. London: Hogarth Press (1927).Google Scholar
Blackburn, I. M. (1974) The pattern of hostility in affective illness. British Journal of Psychiatry, 125, 141–145.Google Scholar
Blackburn, I. M., Lyketsos, G. & Tscantis, J. (1979) The temporal relationship between hostility and depressed mood. British Journal of Psychiatry, 18, 227–235.Google ScholarPubMed
Buss, A. G. & Durkee, A. (1957) An inventory for assessing different kinds of hostility. Journal of Consulting Psychology, 21, 343–349.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Caine, T. M., Foulds, G. A. & Hope, K. (1967) Manual of the Hostility and Direction of Hostility Questionnaire (HDHQ). London: University of London Press.Google Scholar
Conte, H. R. & Plutchik, R. (1974) Personality and background characteristics of suicidal mental patients. Journal of Psychiatric Research, 10, 181–188.Google Scholar
Crook, T., Raskin, A. & Davis, D. (1975) Factors associated with attempted suicide among hospitalised depressed patients. Psychological Medicine, 5, 381–388.Google Scholar
Durkheim, E. (1951) Suicide. Glencoe, Illinois: Free Press.Google Scholar
Eastwood, M. R., Henderson, A. S. & Montgomery, I. M. (1972) Personality and parasuicide methodological problems. Medical Journal of Australia, 1, 170–175.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Edmunds, G. & Kendrick, D. C. (1980) The Measurement of Human Aggressiveness. Chichester: Ellis Horwood.Google Scholar
Farmer, R. (1985) Hostility and Deliberate Self-Poisoning, MSc thesis, University of Manchester.Google Scholar
Farmer, R. (1986) Deliberate self-poisoning. British Journal of Hospital Medicine, 36, 437–442.Google Scholar
Farmer, R. & Creed, F. (1986) Hostility and deliberate self-poisoning. British Journal of Medical Psychology, 59, 311–316.Google Scholar
Fava, G. A. (1986) Irritability, (letter) British Journal of Psychiatry, 148, 338–339.Google Scholar
Foulds, G. A. (1965) Personality and Personal Illness. London: Tavistock Publications.Google Scholar
Foulds, G. A., Caine, I. M. & Creasy, M. A. (1960) Aspects of extra- and intro-punitive expression in mental illness. Journal of Mental Science, 106, 599–610.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Friedman, A. S. (1970) Hostility factors and clinical improvement in depressed patients. Archives of General Psychiatry, 23, 524–537.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Freud, S. (1917) Mourning and melancholia. In Collected Papers Vol IV. New York: Basic Books.Google Scholar
Gottschalk, L. A., Gleser, C. G. & Springer, K. J. (1963) Three hostility scales applicable to verbal samples. Archives of General Psychiatry, 9, 254–279.Google Scholar
Gershon, E. S., Gromer, M. & Klerman, G. L. (1968) Hostility and depression. Psychiatry, 3, 224–235.Google Scholar
Hope, K. (1963) The Structure of Hostility among Normal and Neurotic Persons. Unpublished Ph.D. thesis. University of London.Google Scholar
Klerman, G. L. & Gershon, E. S. (1970) Imipramine effects upon hostility in depression. Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, 150, 127–132.Google Scholar
Kreitman, N. (1978) Social and clinical aspects of suicide and parasuicide (attempted suicide): a contribution from psychiatric epidemiology. In Companion to Psychiatric Studies (ed. A. Forrest, J. Affeck & A. Zealley). Edinburgh: Churchill Livingstone.Google Scholar
Lester, D. (1967) Suicide as an aggressive act. Journal of Psychology, 66, 47–50.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lester, D. (1968) Suicide as an aggressive act: a replication with a control for neuroticism. Journal of General Psychology, 79, 83–86.Google Scholar
Mayo, P. R. (1967) Some psychological changes associated with improvement in depression. British Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, 6, 63–68.Google Scholar
Morgan, H. G., Burns-Cox, C. J., Pocoac, H. & Pottle, S. (1975) Deliberate self-harm: clinical and socio-economic characteristics of 368 patients. British Journal of Psychiatry, 127, 564–574.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Newson-Smith, J. G. B. & Hirsch, S. R. (1979) Psychiatric symptoms in self-poisoning patients. Psychological Medicine, 9, 501–507.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Overall, J. E., Hollister, C. E., Johnson, M. & Pennington, J. (1966) Nosology of depression and differential response to drugs. Journal of the American Medical Association, 195, 946–948.Google Scholar
Paykel, E. S. (1971) Classification of depressed patients: a cluster analysis derived grouping. British Journal of Psychiatry, 118, 275–288.Google Scholar
Paykel, E. S. & Dienelt, M. N. (1971) Suicide attempts following acute depression. Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, 153, 234–243.Google Scholar
Philip, A. E. (1968) The constancy of structure of a hostility questionnaire. British Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, 7, 16–18.Google Scholar
Philip, A. E. (1969) The development and use of the Hostility and Direction of Hostility Questionnaire. Journal of Psychosomatic Research, 13, 283–287.Google Scholar
Philip, A. E.(1970) Traits, attitudes and symptoms in a group of attempted suicides. British Journal of Psychiatry, 116, 475–482.Google Scholar
Philip, A. E. (1971) Psychometric changes associated with response to drug treatment. British Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, 10, 138–143.Google Scholar
Raoo, S. (1928) The problem of melancholia. International Journal of Psychoanalysis, 9, 420–438.Google Scholar
Schless, A. P., Mendela, J., Klpperman, A. & Cochrane, C. (1974) Depression and hostility. Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, 159, 91–100.Google Scholar
Shneidman, E. S. (1964) Suicide, sleep and death. Journal of Consulting Psychology, 28, 95–106.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Stengel, E. & Cook, N. (1958) Attempted Suicide. London: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Urwin, P. & Gibbons, J. G. (1979) Psychiatric diagnosis in self-poisoning patients. Psychological Medicine, 9, 501–507.Google Scholar
Vinoda, K. S. (1966) Personality characteristics of attempted suicides. British Journal of Psychiatry, 112, 1143–1150.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Weissman, M. M. (1974) The epidemiology of suicide attempts. Archives of General Psychiatry, 30, 737–746.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Weissman, M. M., Klerman, G. L. & Paykel, E. (1971) Clinical evaluation of hostility in depression. American Journal of Psychiatry, 128, 261–266.Google Scholar
Weissman, M. M., Fox, K. & Klerman, G. L. (1973) Hostility and depression associated with suicide attempts. American Journal of Psychiatry, 130, 450–455.Google Scholar
Wessman, A. E., Ricks, D. F. & Tyl, M. M. (1960) Characteristics and concomitants of mood fluctuation in college women. Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology, 60, 117–126.Google Scholar
Yesavage, J. A. (1983) Direct and indirect hostility and self-destructive behaviour by hospitalised depressives. Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavia, 68, 345–350.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Submit a response

eLetters

No eLetters have been published for this article.