IMITATIVE SUICIDE IN A COHESIVE ORGANIZATION - OBSERVATIONS FROM A CASE-STUDY

Three suicides occurred within 3 years in a military unit of 35 indivi duals. This represented an annual rate 220 times the North American av erage. A clinical intervention was requested by medical authorities, t he goal being to minimize the risk of further deaths. Group and indivi dual therapy was conducted over 3 days and ongoing referrals were made as necessary. In addition, measures of anxiety, depression, and hosti lity were obtained from this unit and from a unit equivalent in size a nd job description to examine whether these constructs could be used d iagnostically. Analysis of the data indicated that differences in mean scores between the units yielded potentially misleading information, although on an individual basis scores were useful in identifying clie nts at risk of suicide. When those who personally knew one or more of the deceased were compared with those who did not, variability of scor es in conjunction with interviews was helpful in identifying relativel y high-risk subgroups.