O b j e c t i v e s: Pill-takers seem to have some deficiencies in developing problem-solving styles, in which it plays an important role in their mental health. The present study has aimed to examine the role of problem-solving styles in individuals who have suicidal behavior by taking pills.

M e t h o d s: This research is a case-control study in which 100 people who had attempted to commit suicide by taking pills and had gone to the toxicity emergency room of the Razi Educational and Therapeutic center in Rasht city, were compared with 100 normal people who were selected as the control group. These two groups of people were compared with each other in terms of their problem-solving styles (which is measured using Cassidy and Long problem solving styles questionnaire).

R e s u l t s: After adjusting the effects of the confounding variables, i.e. level of education, marital status, residential status, history of psychiatry and alcohol addiction, it became clear that pill-takers group in comparison with the control group scores significantly higher in the non-adaptive problem-solving styles i.e. helplessness, problem-solving control, and avoidance styles (P < 0.0001) and also lower scores in adaptive styles, i.e. creative, confidence and approach styles (P < 0.0001). The interactive effects of group membership and gender were not significant in any of the problem-solving styles (P < 0.05).

C o n c l u s i o n s: Problem-solving styles are regarded as important risk factors when it comes to attempting to commit suicide by taking pills. Thus, it is essential to teach problem-solving styles to at-risk patients in order to preventing suicidal behavior.

The essay aims to analyse Dostoevsky’s artistic and literary strategies in relation to A Writer’s Diary and the short story A Gentle Spirit. The intention is to demonstrate how Dostoevsky’s artistic processes as a writer and as a publicist are combining, starting from crime news to reveal to the reader, through the path into the abysses of the human soul, the representation of the author's conception.

Lithium was one of the first elements (besides hydrogen and helium) after the Big Bang. As a chemical element was identified in 1818. In the 19th century, Carl Lange treated periodic depression with lithium, based on the „uric acid diathesis” concept. In 1949, John Cade demonstrated the therapeutic effect of lithium in manic states. In 1963, Geoffrey Hartigan found that long-term lithium administration prevents recurrences in mood disorders, and lithium became a prototype of mood-stabilizing drugs. Currently, lithium is regarded as a first-line drug for preventing manic and depressive recurrences in mood disorders, and is useful for the treatment of manic and depressive episodes and the augmentation of antidepressants. Among mood-stabilizers, lithium exerts the strongest anti-suicidal activity. A negative correlation between lithium in drinking water and suicides was described. Lithium exerts immunomodulatory and antiviral actions, mostly against herpes viruses. The neuroprotective effect of lithium manifests by increasing the grey matter in the brain and reducing the risk of dementia. Lithium's mechanisms include influencing intracellular signaling and inhibition of glycogen synthase kinase-3. Using lithium in a greater number of patients with mood disorders has been recommended. Lithium’s introduction into contemporary psychiatry and therapeutic action has been reflected in literature and art.

This article is an attempt to re-read Tadeusz Miciński's poem ‘Blood-red Snow’ (‘Krwawy śnieg’, 1914) in the context of a tragedy that took place in February 1914 at Zakopane, or more precisely, in Kościeliska Valley in the Tatras. It was there that Jadwiga Janczewska, Stanisław Ignacy Witkiewicz's fiancée, took her life by shooting himself in the head. Her suicide prompted Miciński, a close friend of Witkiewicz, to write the ‘Blood-red Snow’, a poetic reportage infused with ambiguity, which presents a highly subjective vision of the tragic event and its circumstances. Read out of context, the poem seems be just another product of the poet's fascination with the philosophy of the occult (Luciferianism). However, when its real-life context is restored, the heady symbolism turns out to be a camouflage of a poème à clef, a genre which ‘Blood-red Snow’ actually exemplifies. The poem is an instant reaction to a dramatic event. To make sense of it one does not need to be familiar with the whole story of the relations between Miciński and Witkiewicz. What is perhaps worth noting is that their relationship soured after Jadwiga Janczewska's suicide, which triggered an unending blame game on all sides. While the public held Witkiewicz responsible for the young woman's death, he himself put the blame on Miciński and, first and foremost, on Karol Szymanowski. These controversies are, however, beyond the scope of the 'Blood-red Snow'.