SUICIDE AND SYSTEMATIC DESENSITIZATION: A CASE STUDY.

The article provides a case study on suicide and systematic desensitization. The present study described a multiple-therapy treatment of suicidal behavior in a 14-year-old female. This treatment involved the pairing of target stimuli with specific muscular states and systematic desensitization of reported disturbing thoughts. Target stimuli were introduced through the use of both photographs and imagery. The treatment successfully reduced the rate of suicidal gestures from a mean of 3 per month to .17 per month. The subject displayed no suicidal behavior during the last 7 months that data were kept.