Abstract
Using data from a nationwide psychological autopsy study of all suicides in Finland occurring over a 1-year period, the authors investigated religiosity and its types among suicide victims. Overt active religiosity was identified in 245 (18%) of the victims. A history of psychiatric inpatient treatment and psychotic and depressive disorders diagnosed in psychiatric care were more common among the religious victims than among the nonreligious. The burden of major mental disorders seems to have been heavier among religious than nonreligious victims. The type of religiosity of victims was qualitatively characterized into four categories: (1) help-seeking from a religious congregation, (2) conflict with a religious congregation, (3) private religiosity, and (4) abandoned religiosity. Further research needs to address the psychological contents and psychiatric implications of different types of religiosity among suicidal individuals.
References
Religion and suicide: A research note on sociology's “One Law.”. Social Forces, (1983). 62, 52–527
Durkheim on religion and suicide: A demographic critique. Sociology, (1987). 21, 449–461
Le Suicide. Paris: Alcan (1897).
Statistical methods for rates and proportions. New York: Wiley (1975).
Religion and society in tension. Chicago: Rand-McNally (1971).
The partners' views on precipitant stressors in suicide. Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica, (1992). 85, 380–384
Mental disorders and comorbidity in suicide. American Journal of Psychiatry, (1993). 150, 935–940
Neglect of religious issues in scale-based assessment of suicidal patients. Hospital and Community Psychiatry, (1994). 45, 366–369
Cross-national correlations among religion, suicide and homicide. Sociology and Social Research, (1987). 71, 103–104
Pathways to Suicide: A survey of self-destructive behaviors. Baltimore: John Hopkins University Press (1982).
Religiosity and United States suicide rates, 1972-1978. Journal of Clinical Psychology, (1984). 40, 1166–1169
Mental disorders in adolescent suicide. DSM-III-R axes I and II diagnoses in suicides among 13-to 19-year-olds in Finland. Archives of General Psychiatry, (1991). 48, 834–839
Monitor-tutkimus. Tampere: Kirkon tutkimuskeskus [Monitor survey. Tampere: The Church Research Institute; in Finnish] (1995).
Durkheim, suicide and religion: Toward a network theory of suicide. American Sociological Review, (1989). 54, 33–48
Itsemurha ja uskonnollisuus. Itsemurhan tehneiden jäsentyminen uskonyhteisöön. Pieksämäki: Kirkon tutkimuskeskus (1993).
The effect of decline in institutionalized religion on suicide, 1954-1978. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, (1983). 22, 239–252
The effect of religious commitment on suicide: A cross-national analysis. Journal of Health and Social Behavior, (1983). 24, 362–374
Beyond Durkheim: Religion and suicide. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, (1983). 22, 120–13
Suomalaisten arvot, asenteet ja uskonnollisuus. Tampere: Kirkon tutkimuskeskus [Survey of values, attitudes and religiosity of the population in Finland. Tampere: The Church Research Institute; in Finnish] (1991).