Comparison of personality dimensions of suicidal people with normal people in the framework of Cloninger's biological psychological model

Dissertation for Master's degree(M.A)

Comparison of personality dimensions of people who commit suicide with normal people

in the framework of Cloninger's psychological biological model

The aim of the present study is to explain the role of personality dimensions in suicide attempters. For this purpose, 100 suicide attempters who were selected by the available sampling method from among the people who referred to the hospitals in Shiraz; They were compared with normal people from three different research samples in terms of Cloninger TCI-125 personality scale. The data were compared with the normative data of Iran, Shiraz and Tehran using the t-test for one group. The results showed that there are significant differences between people who attempt suicide and normal people in most aspects of personality and character. So that there was a significant difference in the dimensions of personality, such as seeking, avoidance of harm and reward-dependence, and no significant difference was seen in the dimension of perseverance.  Also, there was a significant difference in personality dimensions such as cooperation and self-management, and no significant difference was observed in the dimension of self-processing. It is essential that the results of this research can be taken into consideration by health policy makers, in order to develop a codified program for education and prevention of suicide attempts and reducing its catastrophic dimensions at various organizational and administrative levels, ministers of education, health and medical education, military and law enforcement forces, universities across the country, newspaper owners and media. As usual.

Introduction

      Suicide means self-destruction or so-called suicide for many years, which has plagued mankind from tribal and traditional relations to complex industrial-urban relations and has offended the hearts and souls of families in the ups and downs of social developments. Epidemiological studies show that suicide occurs among all classes and demographic groups, and all ages, races and social minorities, and is among the ten causes of death in the world (Gilion [1] and James [2], 1993). Suicide is one of the diseases that in terms of creating many social problems, bad thoughts ruling the society and social stigma, not only from the aspect of physical health but also from the aspect of mental and social health, it has affected the condition of the patients and led to the occurrence of many problems in the useful activities and interests of the patients, and it can have a lot of effects on the society in terms of social harm, for this purpose, it is felt necessary to carry out scientific investigations to identify the different aspects of this worrying phenomenon. In general, in the field of suicide etiology, factors such as psychiatric disorders and psychological, social, and biological factors can be mentioned (Saduk and Saduk[3], 2003). Therefore, identifying the factors that examine the relationship between personality traits and reduce personality disorders and ultimately prevent suicide and its adverse effects in society can be an effective step in preventing such problems. In line with these goals, the present study has examined the content and personality process of people who attempt suicide based on the biological-psychological model of Cloninger, so that based on this, investigations have been made in predicting symptoms such as depression, despair and suicidal thoughts that led to this act, and thus a step can be taken in the prevention of these injuries.

Statement of the problem:

During the last two decades, Iran has shown that suicide and suicide attempts are increasing. The age of 15 to 24 years is considered as a period of high risk of committing suicide. Undoubtedly, by losing this age group, not only does the society lose its productive power, but due to illness, disability, and social and psychological damage caused by the suicide problem, it must bear the costs of maintaining and providing special care for many years. Also, suicide damages the mental health of family members and increases the probability of its occurrence (Mohsani, 2016). The results have shown that suicide is the most common cause of death in people aged 15 to 25 in the world (World Health Organization [4], WHO). And in developed countries, it causes 1 to 2 percent of all deaths (Gillion[5], 2000).. The rate of suicide leading to death in young boys is five times that of girls, but the rate of suicide in girls is three times that of boys (Ismailnia et al., 2014). This uniqueness in the type of sex has been achieved in suicide due to the physiological and psychological differences between men and women (Zhang[6], et al., 2004).

The rate of suicide since 1380 in Iran was 5.32, 5.47, 5.58, 5.5, and 5.7 per hundred thousand, respectively, and these results show that suicide in different age groups in the whole country has different percentages. including 17 years and under 9.3%, ages between 18 and 24 years about 40%, ages between 25 and 34 years about 30%, and these percentages for ages 35 and over were 20.7% (Moaidfar et al., 2019). In general, international statistics calculate suicide attempts at a figure of about 100 to 300 people per 100,000 population (Haidari, 1376). The suicide rate among young people aged 15 to 19 in the world in 1950 was about 2.7 per 100 people, which reached 11.3 per 100 people in 1988 (Sadock and Sadock, 2000). The suicide rate in Iran in 2013 was 100 per 100,000 people, which resulted in death in 6 cases (Ministry of Health, Treatment and Medical Education). Suicide statistics in different provinces of the country, in terms of factors and numbers, show a significant difference (Mohammed Khani, 2018). Statistics in 1379 show that suicide in people aged 15 to 29 years has led to death more than cancer, in the ages of 10 to 40 years more than infectious diseases, and in the ages of 15 to 24 years, more than cardiovascular diseases have led to death (Pesht Mashhadi et al., 2018). The suicide rate in Fars province in 2011 was 135.95 people out of 100 thousand people, of which 4.54 people died (Shiraz University of Medical Sciences Mental Health Unit). This growing trend of suicide attempts can have a lot of effects on the society in terms of social damage, for this purpose, it is necessary to carry out scientific investigations to identify the different aspects of this worrying phenomenon. it will be With the growth of thought and wiser behavior and the development of scientific insights, mankind has looked critically and scrutinizingly at this unpleasant social phenomenon and has not given up any effort to find its causes and control factors. In the 19th century, sociologists and psychologists have debated about its cause and motivations, and these two views have sometimes faced each other in explaining this issue. Most of those who tend to commit suicide don't actually want to die, they just want to end their pain and suffering (real or imagined) and in other words, they need help (Azer et al., 2015). In the research, several factors such as age, sex, race, religion, marital status, occupation, psychiatric diseases, physical diseases, drug abuse and personality disorders have been investigated. The risk factors of suicide attempts have been considered (Sadok, 2007, quoted by Nouri, 2010). Some studies also relate causative factors such as family and marital disputes, conflict with relatives, unemployment and psychological disorders to suicide (Mohsani, 2016). Several studies also consider the most common risk factors for suicide to be personality disorders, previous suicide attempts, and depression disorders (Del Azar, 2008, quoted by Nouri, 2010). Various researches have shown that with the existence of a fundamental personality trait, the existence of specific symptoms of depression can be predicted. Although the exact nature of the relationship between personality and depressed mood is somewhat unclear, subtypes of personality are known as a risk for future episodes of depression (Christian Sen [7], 2006). Personality disorder is a common and chronic disease whose prevalence is estimated between 10-15% of the general population. About half of psychiatric patients have a personality disorder (Shorakik[8] et al., 2002). Many researchers associate suicide attempts with mood disorders (Sher[9], 2006), which are related to some personality traits and because personality traits are relatively stable, they can be important in predicting the possibility of suicidal thoughts and suicide attempts (Karbai[10], 2003). Among the personality disorders, anxiety, narcissistic, and antisocial personality disorders have the highest ability to predict suicide (Zarkhaneh, 2018). Therefore, addressing the category of personality and examining its dimensions can play an important role in preventing suicide attempts. Personality is also made up of components such as nature and character[11].