Suicide notes are essential for investigating the psychological state of suicide victims and establishing suicide prevention programs. Since only a few studies have attempted to identify the causes of suicidal behavior through suicide notes, it would be worth examining suicide notes. Quantitative research on suicide has offered a limited understanding of suicide. Results showed that the suicide victims had used the suicide note as a tool for their last communication. Further, in addition to neutral contents such as directions for funeral, the note often contained information about precipitating events that caused the suicidal ideation. Writing a suicide note seemed to help the victims consider concrete plans for suicide. This study proved that qualitative research on suicide notes would be helpful for researchers to understand suicide victims in depth, which cannot be achieved by quantitative methods alone. Based on these results, several suggestions for suicide prevention programs were discussed.
Qualitative Research ; Suicidal Ideation ; Suicide* ; Writing

OBJECTIVES: normal circadian rhythm of autonomic nervous system function stands for the daily change of sympathetic and parasympathetic modulation, which can be measured by heart rate variability (HRV). Generally, patients in the intensive care unit (ICU) are prone to sleep-wake cycle dysregulation, therefore, it may have an influence on the circadian rhythm of autonomic nervous system. This study was designed to interpret possible dysregulation of autonomic nervous system in ICU patients by using HRV. METHODS: HRV was assessed every 3 hours in 21 ICU patients during a 7-minute period. The statistical differences of HRV features between the morning (AM 6 : 00–PM 12 : 00), and the afternoon (PM 12 : 00–PM 18 : 00) periods were evaluated in time domain and frequency domain. RESULTS: Patients showed significantly increased normalized power of low frequencey (nLF), absolute power of low frequencey (LF)/absolute power of high frequencey (HF) in the afternoon period as compared to the morning period. However, normalized power of high frequency (nHF) was significantly decreased in the afternoon period. There was no statistically significant difference between the morning period and the afternoon period in the time domain analysis. CONCLUSIONS: The increased sympathetic tone in the afternoon period supports possible dysregulation in the circadian rhythm of autonomic nervous system in ICU patients. Future studies can help to interpret the association between autonomic dysregulation and negative outcomes of ICU patients.
Autonomic Nervous System* ; Circadian Rhythm* ; Critical Care* ; Heart Rate* ; Heart* ; Humans ; Intensive Care Units*