suicide

Suicide is the act of intentionally ending your life.

There are three levels of intervention in suicide; 1) universal 2) selective and 3) indicated.

Universal interventions target everyone in a defined population. They aim to increase awareness about suicide, remove barriers to care, promote help-seeking and encourage protective factors. Some examples of universal interventions include school-based interventions and national initiatives such as restricted access to lethal means. Evidence suggests that universal interventions are effective at increasing awareness and helping skills, though there is little evidence to suggest they’re effective at reducing suicide-related thoughts or behaviours.

Selective interventions address specific groups at increased risk for suicidal behaviours, for instance those with mental health problems or harmful use of substances. To date, there have been few studies into selective interventions and results are mixed.

Indicated interventions target high-risk individuals already displaying signs of suicidal behaviour. Examples include brief contact interventions (e.g. crisis cards) and talking therapies. Evidence suggests that brief contact interventions are effective for young people in clinical settings. A network meta-analysis conducted in 2021 found that the most effective talking therapies for suicide and self-harm in young people are dialectical behavioural therapies and mentalisation-based therapies.

 

Our suicide Blogs

Suicide in prisons: prevalence and contributing factors in high-income countries

Women are only 5% of the prison population, yet they represent 25% of the forensic health population

Vishal Bhavsar explores a brand new ecological study of 24 high-income countries that investigates the prevalence and contributory factors relating to suicide in prisons.

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Zero Suicide Alliance: free suicide prevention training for all #ZSALaunch

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Today we’re in London for the launch of the Zero Suicide Alliance: a new collaborative committed to suicide prevention in the UK and beyond. You can follow the discussion #BeyondTheRoom. We’ll be live tweeting and podcasting from 4pm.

Also, don’t miss the new FREE suicide prevention training which is accessible to all.

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Future self-harm may be reduced with a brief psychological intervention, but perhaps only for the more severe

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Angharad de Cates explores a recent RCT of a brief psychological intervention to reduce repetition of self-harm in patients admitted to hospital following a suicide attempt.

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Suicide-related internet searches following the release of 13 Reasons Why

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Angharad de Cates, Alys Cole-King and Stan Kutcher explore a quasi-experimental examination of internet search results, which suggests that the Netflix series 13 Reasons Why has both increased suicide awareness while unintentionally increasing suicidal ideation.

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Could psychiatric inpatient admission cause suicide?

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Alex Langford considers a recent paper about inpatient suicide, which suggests that being on a psychiatric ward may possibly result in people taking their own life.

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Does cannabis influence depression?

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Rob Allison and Ian Hamilton summarise a recent retrospective twin cohort study that explores the links between cannabis use and depression, suicidal thoughts and behaviours.

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Sexual orientation and suicidal behaviour: what are the specific risk factors for suicidality in young LGB people?

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Alexandra Pitman and Sarah Rowe publish their debut elf blog on a brand new systematic review and meta-analysis looking at sexual orientation and suicidal behaviour in adolescents and young adults.

This is the fifth in a series of Mental Elf blogs produced in partnership with the British Journal of Psychiatry.

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A crisis map: charting the topography of home treatment

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Derek Tracy and Lisa Lloyd look back over the last 17 years of mental health crisis care and consider the findings of a new survey of Crisis Resolution Teams in England.

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Predicting suicide following self-harm: risk analysis provides little help

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Camille Hart, Alys Cole-King and Siobhan O’Neill co-author this blog about a recent systematic review of risk factors and risk scales, which explores the feasibility of predicting suicide following self-harm.

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The weekend effect in mental health services: new evidence suggests no increased risk of suicide, inpatient mortality or seclusion

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Laura Hemming reviews two recent studies that investigate whether patients admitted to a psychiatric hospital at the weekend had worse clinical outcomes, as well as the specific weekend versus weekday incidences of suicide in very high-risk mental health patients.

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