Publications - Suicide

Caring Parenting Can Influence Teen Suicide Risk, by Rick Nauert, PhD, Psych Central, Dec 6 2017.

“In a new review, University of Cincinnati investigators finds that parents’ caring words and deeds are linked to thoughts of suicide among adolescents...The findings showed that children between the ages of 12 and 17 are significantly more likely to contemplate, plan, and attempt suicide when their parents do not engage in certain behaviors that demonstrate to their children that they care about them. 'Kids need to know that someone’s got their back, and unfortunately, many of them do not. That’s a major problem,' King said. ”

Increased Hours Online Correlate With An Uptick In Teen Depression, Suicidal Thoughts, by Patti Neighmond, NPR, Nov 14 2017.

“A study published Tuesday in the journal Clinical Psychological Science finds that increased time spent with popular electronic devices — whether a computer, cell phone or tablet — might have contributed to an uptick in symptoms of depression and suicidal thoughts over the last several years among teens, especially among girls. Though San Diego State University psychologist Jean Twenge, who led the study, agrees this sort of research can only establish a correlation between long hours of daily screen time and symptoms of alienation — it can't prove one causes the other — she thinks the findings should be a warning to parents. ”

Older adults more likely to disclose suicidal thoughts as they age, by Lisa Rapaport, Reuters, Oct 4 2017.

“More than one in five older adults who commit suicide disclose their intention to kill themselves before taking their own lives, a U.S. study suggests. Overall, 23 percent of suicide victims age 50 or older shared suicidal thoughts with another person in the month before their death, the study found. Disclosure rates were higher among the elderly, and more common when people had chronic health problems or suffered from depression...'Healthcare providers, especially primary care physicians who frequently see older adults with health problems and depression, should routinely assess suicide risk along with access to guns and other means of suicide,' Choi added. ”

U.S. suicide attempts up most among younger adults, less educated, by Andrew M. Seaman, Reuters, Sep 13 2017.

“Young adults with low levels of education and people with mental health disorders bore the greatest burden of a recent increase in suicide attempts in the U.S., a new study shows...For the new study, the researchers analyzed survey data collected in 2004-2005 and 2012-2013. Nearly 70,000 U.S. adults were asked the same questions during those two periods...In both surveys, most suicide attempts occurred among women and people younger than age 50. ”

Increased Risk for Suicidal Thoughts Among Transgender Students, by Rick Nauert, PhD, Psych Central, Sep 6 2017.

“Emerging evidence suggests school-based mental health services are urgently needed to protect against suicidal thoughts among transgender students...Nearly 35 percent of transgender youth in California reported suicidal thoughts in the past year, compared to 19 percent among non-transgender youth...The study also reports that higher rates of depression and victimization among transgender youth compared to non-transgender youth partly explain higher risk of suicidal thoughts among transgender students...Study authors explain that this research is only a beginning as the results may represent an underestimate of the gender identity-related disparity in suicidal thoughts.  ”

Preventing Teen Suicide: What the Evidence Shows, by Aaron E. Carroll, New York Times, Aug 17 2017.

“Rates of teen suicide continue to rise, federal health officials reported this month, with rates for girls higher than at any point in the last 40 years...The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has an evidence-based giude on how to prevent suicide as well. There are things the government can do, including strengthening economic supports, making sure families are more financially secure and have stable housing. The health care system needs to strengthen access to and delivery of mental health care, as well as improving our ability to identify and support teens at risk. There are things we as a society can do as well. We need to make things safer for teenagers, which includes reducing their access to the means they might likely use in a suicide attempt. Also important but more difficult, we need to promote connectedness and limit isolation. The best thing we can do for teens at risk is to prevent them from cutting themselves off from others...Our inability to address the issue of guns exacts a cost. There are about twice as many suicides annually using guns (more than 21,000 in 2014) as there are homicides using guns. ”

Suicides under age 13: One every 5 days, by Jason Hanna, CNN, Aug 14 2017.

“From 1999 through 2015, 1,309 children ages 5 to 12 committed suicide in the United States, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says. That means one child under 13 died of suicide nearly every five days, on average, over those 17 years...By far, most children under 13 who commit suicide are boys: 76% of those who died in 1999-2015 were male...36.8% of the 5-11 set who committed suicide were black -- nearly double the rate reported in the same demographic group between 1993 and 2002.  ”

Few U.S. gun owners get training that includes suicide prevention, by Carolyn Crist, Reuters, Aug 8 2017.

“About 61 percent of firearm owners in the U.S. have received formal training in handling their guns, but only one in seven say it included prevention of suicide - the number one cause of gun deaths, according to a new study...Safe handling was the most common topic covered in training, with 61 percent of gun owners saying it had been included in their training. In contrast, suicide prevention was the least common topic - just 14 percent of gun owners said it had been part of their training... The low percentage of owners who have received training in suicide prevention is notable because there is a strong association between gun access and suicide, said Dr. Emmy Betz, an associate professor of emergency medicine at the University of Colorado School of Medicine in Aurora. ”

Internet searches on suicide went up after "13 Reasons Why" released by Netflix, by Madhumita Murgia, The Washington Post, Jul 31 2017.

“Now a study published in JAMA Internal Medicine has found that within the same three weeks, Internet searches about suicide were significantly higher than expected.  “Our analyses suggest 13 Reasons Why, in its present form, has both increased suicidal awareness while unintentionally increasing suicidal ideation,” the authors wrote. “The most rising queries focused on suicidal ideation. For instance, ‘how to commit suicide’, ‘commit suicide’ and ‘how to kill yourself’ were all significantly higher.”  Overall, suicide queries were 19 percent higher in the 19 days following the series’ release, “reflecting 900,000 to 1.5 million more searches than expected,” the paper reported. ”

A suicide attempt in an Army unit can lead to more, study finds, by Jacqueline Howard, CNN, Jul 26 2017.

“Within Army units, the risk of suicide attempts among soldiers increases as the number of attempts made within the past year in their unit rises, according to the study, published in the journal JAMA Psychiatry on Wednesday. In other words, the greater the number of previous suicide attempts in a unit, the greater the individual risk of a suicide attempt for a soldier in that unit, said Dr. Robert Ursano, professor of psychiatry and neuroscience and director of the Center for the Study of Traumatic Stress at the Department of Defense's Uniformed Services University...The study involved data on 9,512 enlisted soldiers who attempted suicide between 2004 and 2009, documented in administrative and medical records...After analyzing the data, the researchers found that soldiers were more likely to attempt suicide if assigned to a unit with one or more previous suicide attempts in the past year, and that risk increased as the number of previous suicide attempts went up.   ”

ER Intervention Shown to Reduce New Suicide Attempts, by Janice Wood, Psych Central, Apr 30 2017.

“A clinical trial involving nearly 1,400 suicidal patients in the emergency departments of eight hospitals found that a multifaceted intervention lowered the risk of new suicide attempts by 20 percent...emergency department (ED) patients who received the intervention, which was composed of specialized screening, safety planning guidance, and periodic follow-up phone check-ins, made 30 percent fewer total suicide attempts compared to people who received standard ED care. ”

The Troubling Link Between Springtime Allergies and Suicide, by Olga Khazan, The Atlantic, Apr 21 2017.

“Across decades and in various countries, suicide is much more common in the spring and early summer than other times of year...In 2005, Postolache and his collaborators found that the suicide rate among young women doubled during peak pollen season, and the rate among older women went up by more than four-fold...'Think of suicide like a pie chart,” said Erick Messias, a psychiatry professor at the University of Arkansas. Various factors, like a family history, or a job loss, or owning a gun, are each potential slices of the pie. 'The moment the pie closes, you have a suicide attempt. For some, [pollen allergies] might be a make-or-break deal that closes the gap.' ”

Opioid abuse tied to higher suicide risk in veterans, by Lisa Rapaport, Reuters, Mar 24 2017.

“While drug and alcohol problems are associated with a higher risk of suicide among veterans, the increased danger is particularly high with opioid abuse, a U.S. study suggests...The suicide risk is particularly high when veterans misuse prescription sedatives, with more than quadrupled odds of suicide for men and more than 11 times the risk for women, the study also found. Among female veterans, opioids were also tied to a nearly eight-times-higher risk of suicide, while amphetamines and stimulants were tied to almost six times the risk. ”

Some Gun Laws Tied to Lower Suicide Rates, by Nichola Bakalar, New York Times, Mar 15 2017.

“Background checks and waiting periods for gun purchases are associated with lower suicide rates, a new study reports...'The suicide rate has increased every single year since 2005,” he said. “That you can find any kind of decrease in this environment is monumental.' ”

Facebook artificial intelligence spots suicidal users, by Leo Kelion, BBC, Mar 1 2017.

“Facebook has begun using artificial intelligence to identify members that may be at risk of killing themselves.  The social network has developed algorithms that spot warning signs in users' posts and the comments their friends leave in response.  After confirmation by Facebook's human review team, the company contacts those thought to be at risk of self-harm to suggest ways they can seek help.  A suicide helpline chief said the move was "not just helpful but critical". ”