An increased risk of death by suicide was found among individuals hospitalized with infection in prospective and dose-response relationships. These findings indicate that infections may have a relevant role in the pathophysiological mechanisms of suicidal behavior.
to 36% in 2014. 5 If we were to extrapolate our study estimate to the general population, this would indicate that nearly 40% of the increase in the suicide rate could be attributed to the decline in religious service attendance.Of course, individual clinical care must respond to the personal needs and background of a patient. One would obviously want to exercise due caution before making recommendations about attendance to someone who had experienced abuse within a church or religious context. Current recommendations on obtaining a spiritual history from a patient include assessing whether religion is important to the patient in the illness; whether it has been important in the past; and whether the patient has someone, or would like to have someone, to talk to about religious matters. 6 The posing of such questions may be helpful in ascertaining potential harmful or painful past experiences and in taking them into account in making recommendations and providing appropriate treatment.
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