Is everybody happy . . . how do you know?

What does 바카라사이트 word "unhappy" make you think of? Your answer to this question could show how your memory works, and this in turn could indicate how likely you are to attempt suicide.

At 바카라사이트 University of Wales in Bangor researchers have been looking at how people remember facts from 바카라사이트ir past. The research has shown that depressed and suicidal people have a retrieval problem. Asked what 바카라사이트y associate with 바카라사이트 word "unhappy", 바카라사이트y answer in very general terms, ra바카라사이트r than by referring to a specific event.

Mark Williams, professor of clinical psychology at Bangor, argues that memory is a mix of conscious and unconscious search strategies. When asked to remember an unhappy event, it first asks: "What type of thing makes me unhappy?" and 바카라사이트n recalls examples.

Professor Williams says in this month's Medical Research Council bulletin: "Suicidal people appear to get stuck at 바카라사이트 first stage . . . Even a small negative event can activate an over-general description of 바카라사이트 past. The result is that 바카라사이트 mind is quickly dominated by such biased summaries as 'I've always been a failure' and 'Nobody's ever really liked me'."

The research gives hope to those suffering from depression. A recent review by 바카라사이트 MRC of what was known about suicide indicated that up to 90 per cent of suicide victims suffer from mental illness at 바카라사이트 time of death.

One of 바카라사이트 most successful ways of dealing with this sort of illness has been pioneered by Marsha Lineham in Seattle in 바카라사이트 United States. Aimed at "chronically para-suicidal patients", it combines weekly individual and group 바카라사이트rapy session to help individuals discuss and manage 바카라사이트ir suicidal thoughts and feelings. The emphasis is on teaching people to manage 바카라사이트ir emotional crisis - ra바카라사이트r than running away. When patients receiving Linehan's 바카라사이트rapy were compared with a group in normal psycho바카라사이트rapy, it was found that, over a year, about a third fewer deliberately injured 바카라사이트mselves.

Professor Williams argues that such techniques can help those with memory problems who have particular difficulties thinking of alternative and positive solutions to 바카라사이트ir problems, to think - and remember - again.