Psychological Strain as a Source of Mental Disorder and Suicidality

In search of etiology of mental disorder and suicide, this chapter presents a summary of the literature and theories about the strain theory of suicide and mental disorders. Psychological strains resulted from negative life events usually precede a suicidal behavior and an onset of mental disorders. There are four sources of psychological strains in the theory: (1) differential social values, (2) discrepancy between reality and aspiration (expectation), (3) relative deprivation or relative poverty, and (4) deficiency in coping skills. The instrument that measures each of the four strains is also discussed and presented in this chapter.