FEATURES OF SUICIDAL BEHAVIOR OF PATIENTS WITH PARANOID SCHIZOPHRENIA WITH DIFFERENT CLINICAL-PSYCHOPATHOLOGICAL AND SOCIO-PSYCHOLOGICAL CHARACTERISTICS

Abstract

Schizophrenia is a serious mental illness that is accompanied by a high risk of suicidal behavior.

The aim of the study – to learn the peculiarities of suicidal behavior of patients with paranoid schizophrenia in the context of the severity of productive, negative and general symptoms of schizophrenia, as well as social support for patients.

Material and Methods. Following the principles of biomedical ethics, 53 men and 49 women with paranoid schizophrenia were clinically examined and an assessment of the severity of the symptoms of schizophrenia was carried out using the PANSS scale and a survey using the MSPSS scale.

Results. In patients with suicidal thoughts and suicidal actions, significantly higher rates of delusions, hallucinations, arousal, thinking disorders, all components of negative symptoms, anxiety, depression, low contact, decreased criticality to their condition, as well as integral indicators of the severity of psychotic symptoms, productive and negative symptomatology, depression, anergy and mental disorders. In patients with suicidal actions, the severity of psychopathological symptoms and differences in comparison with patients with a lack of suicidal tendencies are greater than in patients with suicidal thoughts. In patients with suicidal tendencies, significantly lower indices of social support for the family, friends and significant others were revealed; these trends are found in men, women and all patients in general, and in patients with suicidal actions, these rates are very low, especially in men.

Conclusions. The revealed regularities testify that the patient with paranoid schizophrenia with suicidal activity is generally characterized by a greater degree of psychopathological symptomatology, in comparison with patients without suicidal tendencies; as the main predictors of suicidal behavior in patients with paranoid schizophrenia, high severity of negative symptoms, delusions, hallucinations, as well as anxiety and depression, and the fact that patients with paranoid schizophrenia with suicidal tendencies have a low level of social support for family, friends and other significant persons; this trend is more pronounced in men.