In the beginning of the chapter the concept of catastrophizer is introduced. Catastrophizer usually have very negative explanatory style, that when something goes wrong, some people tend to blame themselves, see difficulties as more permanent and long-lasting than is justified. More importantly, catastrophizer tend to overgeneralize the problem rather than seeing it as specific and limited. What is more, Catastrophizers generally have superficial relationships with other people and cannot face their problems. They are more likely to die from accident or violence.
Suggested by the study done on Terman participants, how people think about the world was highly related to the chance of committing suicide. People who committed suicides were emotionally unstable and usually disappointed with their accomplishments. In an interview done later when Terman participants were in their seventies, those who lived healthy lives suggested that they do not have much to regret about. They tended to perceive the positive part of life and did not see things had turned our so bad for them.
The life story of Douglas McGlashan Kelley is kind of striking. After served as a forensic psychiatrist in Nuremberg Germany and studies highest-ranking captured Nazis in 1942, he became a professor at the University of Berkeley. Later he got married and had three children. But In 1958, he suddenly committed suicide by swallowing the same poison which one of the Nazis had swallowed to kill himself. However, Kelley was not a depressed and negative person as one may conceive, instead, his colleague and students reflected that he was a person with good humor. Even though he might saw something not so bright in human, why would he still committed suicide after he had built a happy family and a successful career? And I do not believe that anyone can pretend to be happy and humorous when the idea of suicide is linger around in their minds. As suggested in the book, those who committed suicide did not suddenly fall off the path. Stresses from different periods and various aspects of these people’s lives would build and eventually go on to the path toward suicide.
I am supervised by how powerful childhood experience can be. In one of my other class, orphans who did not get adopted before the age of four usually have diminished number of neurons and impaired cognitive functions. Here, Terman participants who committed suicides were often missing a parents’ love in their childhood. Parental love in the early childhood is important to many aspects of a person’s development.
The fact that suicide rates varies greatly across cultures, times, and circumstance suggests that suicide behavior cannot be blamed on chemical imbalance in the brain. There are issues surrounding the fundamental perception of the meaning of life and death. It is not impossible to alter the way people think about things.
Conscientious people are less likely to be catastrophizers. And interestingly, in a medical setting, conscientious people are much more likely to survive no matter they were on a real medication or a placebo. Positive thinking has a large impact on people’ health. We can change negative thought processes by using Cognitive therapy: replace negative thoughts with more positive ones. And it is always helpful to keep a diary, reflecting on things make one happy and taking time to thoughtfully evaluate a difficult situation.