In a novel by Josephine Hart, a new favorite of mine, a reference was made to Stephen Silverman's work at Yale on the subtle change in the sound of the voice that is the first sign that an individual may be serious about committing suicide.
Naturally, my TIPS-inspired curiosity sent me to the web to find out if this was fiction, and I found that it's not. I haven't taught Abnormal Psych. in a while, so I guess I'm behind the times, but I thought this was interesting. Silverman is a psychiatrist who is also a jazz pianist, and he thought he detected a subtle change - a strange hollowness - in the voices of suicidal patients. He set out to see if this was clinically verifiable - if it could be measured. If so, perhaps it could be a warning signal. Silverman "identified several acoustic features in the voices of people recorded shortly before they either took their own lives, or tried to do so without success, that differentiate them from recorded voices of normal individuals and those suffering from severe depression who are not suicidal." He and his therapist wife set out to see if they could Here's the interesting description: http://frontweb.vuse.vanderbilt.edu/vuse_web/Newsletter/Vol42_No1/4201st21.h tm Beth Benoit University System of New Hampshire --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To unsubscribe send a blank email to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
