Modes of Mind and Suicidal Processes

© 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. All rights reserved. This chapter explores the hypothesis that the way people react to distressing stimuli, including the presence of suicidal ideation, is critical in determining whether these problems become "adhesive", perpetuating a sense of entrapment. In particular, it suggests that the greatest difficulties arise when the presence of distressing situations, thoughts, or feelings immediately and automatically triggers a sense of discrepancy; a mode of mind that has developed to support discrepancy reduction is adopted to solve the problem, but fails to do so; and there is a tendency to automatically resort to increasingly maladaptive forms of discrepancy-based processing, such as rumination and experiential avoidance, which over time may become habitual responses to discrepancies of all types. The chapter also presents the findings of several studies which, using convergent methodologies and examines elements of the mode of mind hypothesis as it applies to suicidal people.