Julio Antonio Guija

• Servicio de Psiquiatría Forense. Instituto de Medicina Legal y Ciencias Forenses. Sevilla. España
• Jefe del Servicio at Instituto de Medicina Legal de Sevilla

Introduction Suicide is a global public health issue necessitating evidence-based prevention strategies. Many individuals who die by suicide have had prior contact with healthcare services. Nearly half visit a primary care provider within a month before their death, and many visit emergency departments (EDs) frequently. Effective risk assessment in...

Introduction There is a discussion whether military and police corps show increased suicide rates, as the line of work is characterised by both protective and risk factors for suicidality. To examine deaths by suicide rates and trends in the Spanish Guardia Civil as compared with the general population. Methods This is a retrospective case–control...

Individuals who use substances such as cocaine, cannabis, heroin, alcohol and nicotine are at increased risk for suicidal behavior. Our objective is to examine the relationship between substance use and suicide. An observational psychological autopsy study design was used to compare substance use in individuals who died by suicide and individuals w...

Background: This study explored the characteristics of people who die by suicide, comparing those who had depression with those who did not. Methods: Clinical data were collected through a postmortem proxy-based semistructured interview (psychological autopsy). Postmortem toxicological analysis provides data on the presence of substances or drugs i...

Background:: Stressful life events (SLEs), impulsivity, aggression, and hostility are known risk factors for suicide. The existence of an "I-A-H Triad" (composed of impulsiveness, aggressiveness and hostility) is proposed as a mediating factor between SLEs and suicide. Method:: Data on 399 deceased people (274 from suicide, 125 from other causes) w...

Background Many patients with depression refuse treatment. Moreover, suicide attempters often display low perceived need of treatment and impaired decision-making. These observations raise questions about the capacity to treatment consent in depressed suicide attempters (SA). Methods In patients with current depressive episode ( N = 33 SAs and N =...

Objective: The aim of this study was to examine suicide rates in Spain during the COVID-19 pandemic and the influenza pandemic of 1918-1920. Methods: Data on deaths by cause for the periods 1910-1925 and 2016-2020 were obtained from the National Statistics Institute of Spain. Results: During the Spanish influenza pandemic, a peak of deaths in 1918...

Background: The exact mechanisms through which the impact of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic could influence the prevalence of suicidal thoughts are not yet known, both in the general population and in health workers. The objectives of the present study are to determine the prevalence of suicidal thoughts in the physician population and to detect sociodem...

Purpose of Review Since the declaration of the COVID-19 pandemic, there have been numerous social changes to try to contain the spread of the disease. These sudden changes in daily life have also changed the way we relate to others, in addition to creating a climate of uncertainty and fear. Therefore, the objective of this review is to compile publ...

With the entry into force of Law 8/2021 of June 2, which reforms civil and procedural legislation for the support of people with disabilities, it is intended to apply and adapt our legislation to the International Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. Disability of December 13, 2006. This recognizes that people with disabilities ha...

The denigration of one parent by the other would be one of the most damaging effects for the child in situations of family breakdown, although the so-called parental alienation syndrome (Gardner) as a supposed childhood mental disorder, has not obtained acceptance in psychiatric classifications nor the necessary validity and scientific support, so...

Resumen La denigración de un progenitor por el otro es uno de los efectos más dañinos para el menor en situaciones de ruptura familiar, si bien el llamado síndrome de alienación parental (Gardner) como supuesto trastorno mental infantil, no ha obtenido la aceptación en las clasificaciones psiquiátricas internacionales, ni la necesaria validez y sop...

Objective: To analyze the relationship between suicide in men and stratified measures of religiosity. Methods: We studied 192 suicides and 81 controls (nonsuicide, sudden, or accidental death). We employed the psychological autopsy method to compile diagnoses based on DSM-IV criteria. Overall, religiosity and participation in religious associati...

El suicidio constituye un importante problema de salud pública. La mortalidad por suicidio, la calidad de las estadísticas y su validez son un elemento crucial en su monitorización y prevención. En este artículo pretendemos realizar una actualización de las aportaciones de la medicina forense a la conducta suicida, destacando la importancia de las...

Today we understand suicidal behavior as a spectrum of actions and thought processes. This framework is the result of centuries of thought and study on the subject. This chapter will provide a historical context for attempts to classify and understand the various manifestations of suicidal behavior. This chapter traces the evolution of the study of...

Introduction It has been suggested that there is a relationship between BMI and suicide. Thus, BMI of subjects who commit suicide would be lower than the BMI of other unnatural deaths (Flaig 2013). Objectives Explore the possible relationship between BMI and suicide. Material and methods A total of 1197 suicides and 473 unnatural deaths (not by s...

Background and objectives To be able to prevent suicides, The exact magnitude of suicides must be known in order to prevent them. There is evidence that data provided on the number of suicides by the Spanish Statistical Office (Instituto Nacional de Estadística [INE]) differs from that identified by forensic pathologists. This paper aims to determi...

To be able to prevent suicides, The exact magnitude of suicides must be known in order to prevent them. There is evidence that data provided on the number of suicides by the Spanish Statistical Office (Instituto Nacional de Estadística [INE]) differs from that identified by forensic pathologists. This paper aims to determine whether the INE data ar...

The use of physical and pharmacological restraint is controversial but is currently accepted as inevitable. It is indicated for controlling behavioral disorders and psychomotor agitation that put patients and third parties at risk. Its indication should be medical, and we should opt for the least restrictive measure. Restraints represent a possible...

Introduction Although religion is one the protective factors classically related to suicidal behavior, as far as we know, no studied based on psychological autopsy has been published. Holy Week in Seville (Spain) may be the most important traditional event of the city. Besides socio-cultural and economic aspects, it is the celebration of the Passio...

Introduction Suicide is a major public health problem. Although suicide statistics have always been difficult to determine, there is no doubt that deaths caused by this psychiatric challenge are similar to the ones caused by homicide or road traffic injuries. The presence of a personality disorder has often been related to suicide. Objectives In t...

Whether suicide attempters and completers represent the same population evaluated at different points along a progression towards suicide death, overlapping populations, or completely different populations is a problem still unresolved. 446 Adult suicide attempters and knowledgeable collateral informants for 190 adult suicide probands were intervie...

In Spain, suicide has become the leading cause of violent death, ahead of traffic accidents. Prevention programs are based on risk factors of suicidal behavior, which are mainly drawn from studies of suicide attempts and to a lesser extent, from studies of completed suicide. Our main objectives were to determine if difference exists between suicide...

In Spain, suicide is the leading cause of violent death, ahead of motor vehicle accidents, with about 3,500 people dying by this mean in Spain. The risk factors identified are primarily based on studies of suicide attempts.The centralization of autopsies in the Institutes of Legal Medicine allows the homogenization of working methods and the consis...

Inter-rater agreement is a crucial aspect in the planning and performance of a clinical trial in which the main assessment tool is the clinical interview. The main objectives of this study are to study the inter-rater agreement of a tool for the assessment of suicidal behavior (Brief Suicide Questionnaire) and to examine whether the inter-examiner...

IntroductionInter-rater agreement is a crucial aspect in the planning and performance of a clinical trial in which the main assessment tool is the clinical interview. The main objectives of this study are to study the inter-rater agreement of a tool for the assessment of suicidal behavior (Brief Suicide Questionnaire) and to examine whether the int...

Alcohol abusers seem to be prone to both suicide attempts and completions. The relationship between alcohol abuse and suicide in adolescence is complex. To examine the role of alcohol abuse and dependence in adolescent suicide in psychological autopsy studies. A search in the National Library of Medicine (NLM) PubMed database using "adolescents" an...

On the way initiated by Overall (1), Pull and Pichot (2) and followed by us (3) and wider project is considered developed by the investigation group SECOR, we have elaborated an instrument that allows to be diagnose dysfunctions for use of substances according to each one of the classifications more used at the present without necessity of using ea...

Evaluation of the affective disorder in the elderly presents added problems to those that are found in any other psychiatric evaluation process. The study analysed the inherent difficulties which are related to the nosological framework, the differentiation of what would be symptoms and what could be specific affects of the normal involutive proces...

Evaluation of the affective disorder in the elderly presents added problems to those that are found in any other psychiatric evaluation process. The study analysed the inherent difficulties which are related to the nosological framework, the differentiation of what would be symptoms and what could be specific affects of the normal involutive proces...