Publications - Suicide

LGBT Navajos Discover Unexpected Champions: Their Grandparents, by Laurel Morales, NPR, Jan 26 2019.

“Nationwide, the share of gay, lesbian and bisexual teens who attempt suicide is high — 23 percent. For Navajo LGBTQ youth, the rate is 70 percent, according to the Navajo Nation's Diné Policy Institute. [...] It's not unusual that Navajo grandparents are accepting of being LGBT while parents are not. Historians say federally run boarding schools and other assimilation tactics taught a generation of Navajos that same-sex relationships are wrong. ”

Parents often don't know when teens have suicidal thoughts, by Lisa Rapaport , Reuters, Jan 14 2019.

“Three in four parents are unaware when their teens have recurrent thoughts about suicide, and a big part of the problem may be that adolescents often deny feeling this way, a U.S. study suggests. Researchers interviewed 5,137 adolescents, ages 11 to 17, along with one parent or stepparent. Most teens in the study didn’t report suicidal thoughts. But when they did, half of their parents were unaware these teens had thoughts of killing themselves and 76 percent of parents didn’t know when teens regularly thought about death, researchers report in Pediatrics. ”

ER visits for physical ailments tied to self-harm risk, by Lisa Rapaport , Reuters, Dec 20 2018.

“Teens and young adults who visit emergency rooms for injuries or physical illnesses may be more likely to harm themselves afterward, a U.S. study suggests. Emergency room (ER) visits for mental health disorders or substance misuse have long been linked to an increased risk for self-harm and suicidal thoughts and behaviors among teens and young adults. The current study focused on teens and young adults, ages 15 to 29, who visited an ER for more common reasons: physical illnesses and injuries. It found that these individuals were much more likely to harm themselves after being treated for a wide range of conditions including epilepsy, back pain, headaches and dental problems. ”

Doctors struggle to help older gun owners, by Carolyn Crist, Reuters, Dec 14 2018.

“Doctors who work with seniors are grappling with ways to prevent gun-related suicides and accidents, often among gun-owning older patients with dementia or depression, according to a recent review article. People older than 65 have the highest rates of gun ownership, depression and suicide in the U.S., and while they’re less likely to be victims of violent crimes, they are more likely to become victims of their own guns, the authors write in the Journal of the American Osteopathic Association. ”

Eczema patients at 36% higher risk of suicide attempts, study says, by Susan Scutti, CNN, Dec 12 2018.

“Eczema is a common skin condition that can pack a profound psychological punch: People with eczema are more likely to have suicidal thoughts and suicide attempts than others without the condition, according to new research published Wednesday in the journal JAMA Dermatology...The researchers found that patients with eczema were 44% more likely to have suicidal thoughts and 36% more likely to attempt suicide compared to people without the skin condition. ”

Even with insurance, getting mental health treatment is a struggle in Mass., study says, by Liz Kowalczyk, Boston Globe, Dec 11 2018.

“Massachusetts residents who need health care are colliding with a hard reality: Having medical insurance doesn’t guarantee you can get treatment, particularly for psychiatric problems. More than half of adults who sought mental health or addiction treatment in recent months had difficulty getting that care, according to a survey of 2,201 residents by the Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts Foundation in Boston...The obstacle wasn’t a lack of insurance; the vast majority of patients were insured. Rather, the problem was that providers either did not accept their insurance or their practices were closed to new patients. ”

Infections May Raise The Risk Of Mental Illness In Children, by Rhitu Chatterjee, NPR, Dec 5 2018.

“Researchers have traced a connection between some infections and mental illnesses like schizophrenia, depression and bipolar disorder. New research from Denmark bolsters that connection. The study, published Thursday in JAMA Psychiatry, shows that a wide variety of infections, even common ones like bronchitis, are linked to a higher risk of many mental illnesses in children and adolescents...For all mental illnesses — excluding depression and bipolar disorder — the team found that being hospitalized for an infection was associated with a 84 percent higher risk of subsequently being diagnosed with a mental health disorder at a hospital and a 42 percent increased risk of being prescribed a medication for mental illness. ”

Suicide, at 50-year peak, pushes down US life expectancy, by Mike Stobbe, AP, Nov 29 2018.

“Suicides and drug overdoses pushed up U.S. deaths last year, and drove a continuing decline in how long Americans are expected to live. Overall, there were more than 2.8 million U.S. deaths in 2017, or nearly 70,000 more than the previous year, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Thursday. It was the most deaths in a single year since the government began counting more than a century ago. ”

Facebook Increasingly Reliant on A.I. To Predict Suicide Risk, by Martin Kaste , NPR, Nov 17 2018.

“A year ago, Facebook started using artificial intelligence to scan people's accounts for danger signs of imminent self-harm. Facebook Global Head of Safety Antigone Davis is pleased with the results so far. ”

Concussions tied to doubled risk of suicide, by Lisa Rapaport, Reuters, Nov 13 2018.

“Survivors of traumatic brain injuries may be more than twice as likely to die by suicide as individuals without a history of injuries like concussions or skull fractures, a research review suggests...The current analysis focused on concussions and mild traumatic brain injuries and found these events associated with an elevated risk of suicidal thoughts and attempted suicides in addition to suicide deaths. While the exact reason for this connection isn’t clear, it’s possible that concussions and mild traumatic brain injuries lead to lasting changes in regions of the brain associated with regulating mood and decision making, the study authors note.   ”

States may now broaden mental health treatment under Medicaid, by Michael Nedelman, CNN, Nov 13 2018.

“The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services may now allow for states to pursue Medicaid reimbursements for short-term inpatient treatment in mental health facilities despite a decades-old exclusion, Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar announced Tuesday. In a letter to state Medicaid directors, CMS detailed a new Medicaid waiver opportunity through which states may bypass longstanding reimbursement restrictions on inpatient psychiatric treatment, which apply to mental health facilities with more than 16 beds. Azar said the original policy has posed a "significant barrier" to people getting the treatments they need. ”

Restless legs syndrome linked with risk for suicidal thoughts, by Linda Carroll, Reuters, Oct 16 2018.

“People with restless legs syndrome may be more likely to think about suicide or to actually make plans to take their own lives, compared to people without the troublesome condition, a new study suggests. Typically, people with restless legs syndrome say that when they’re lying down, 'they have a creepy-crawly feeling in their legs plus an irresistible urge to move,' explained study coauthor Dr. Brian Koo, an associate professor of neurology at the Yale Medical School. 'That urge to move prevents them from staying in bed...'It’s entirely possible that the poor sleep is leading to depression and suicidality... ”

LGBT youth at higher risk for suicide attempts, by Linda Carroll, Reuters, Oct 8 2018.

“LGBT adolescents are more likely than other kids their age to try to kill themselves, a new analysis confirms. Data pooled from 35 earlier studies show that sexual minority youth were more than three times as likely to attempt suicide as heterosexual peers, researchers report in JAMA Pediatrics. Transsexual youth were at highest risk, nearly six times as likely to attempt suicide as heterosexual peers, researchers reported. ”

Survey: 1 in 5 College Students Stressed, Considers Suicide, by Rick Nauert, PhD, Psych Central, Sep 11 2018.

“A new survey reveals that while college years may be a time of excitement and optimism they are also often stressful. And, the stress is accompanied by increased mental health diagnoses and the risk of suicide or suicidal thoughts. Brigham and Women’s hospital investigators queried more than 67,000 college students from across more than 100 institutions and found that while racial/ethnic, sexual or gender minorities are especially vulnerable, high rates for stress events, mental health diagnoses and the risk of suicide were reported among all students surveyed. ”

A traumatic brain injury may increase the risk of suicide, study says, by Amy Ellis Nutt, Washington Post, Aug 14 2018.

“Traumatic brain injury is the leading cause of death and disabilityin young adults in the developed world. Suicide is the second leading cause of death for young people ages 15 to 24. Though the reasons for any particular suicide are often inscrutable, research published Tuesday in the Journal of the American Medical Association suggests that at least a fraction of the blame could be placed on traumatic brain injuries....'Individuals with mild TBI, with concussion, had an elevated suicide risk by 81 percent,' said Trine Madsen of the Danish Research Institute of Suicide Prevention, one of the authors of the study. 'But individuals with severe TBI had a higher suicide risk that was more than double [the risk of someone with no TBI].' ”