The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) has released Mental Health, United States, 2010. This new report includes mental health statistics at the national and state levels from 35 different data sources. Suicide death data is provided by age, sex, race, and Hispanic origin. Suicidal behavior among special populations such as active duty, National Guard and Reserve military personnel for selected years from 1985 through 2008 is also discussed. SAMHSA has issued the Mental Health, United States series biannually since 1980.
The Weekly Spark: Friday, April 27, 2012
Announcements
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SAMHSA issues report on mental health data
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Screening for Mental Health hosts webinar on new tools for community implementation of the Signs of Suicide (SOS) Suicide Prevention Program, Thursday, May 3, 2012, 2:00-3:00 pm, ET
Community Connections: Expanding Your Suicide Prevention Team will give an overview of new training tools available in SOS kits to help garner support and coordinate efforts in schools and communities. It will also provide first-hand insight into community motivation in implementing the SOS curriculum.
Research
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Managing Care for Soldiers at High Risk for Suicide
The High Interest Program (HIP) at the Fort Campbell, Kentucky Army installation may prove an effective model for the care of patients at high risk for suicide in both military and civilian settings. The program was developed in response to a number of suicides at Fort Campbell in 2009. The High Interest Program provides care and coordinates transitions for soldiers recently discharged from inpatient psychiatric care.
In contrast to a traditional model of care, in which high-risk patients are assigned to individual mental health care providers, patients in HIP are assigned to the HIP team. This team includes a psychologist, psychiatrist, psychiatric technicians, case managers, and therapists. The case manager begins to track patient progress while patients are hospitalized and helps with discharge planning. The HIP psychiatric technician conducts a safety-focused interview on the day a patient is released from inpatient care, assigns an HIP team doctor to the case, and—unless the patient presents an imminent danger to self or others—releases the patient to a regular command. The technician also recommends any safety precautions that might be warranted (such as restrictions on access to weapons or a referral to the Army’s substance abuse program). During the first week after release from inpatient care, the soldier is also seen by the team’s psychologist, therapist, and psychiatrist (if the patient has been prescribed medications). After the first week, the patient continues to have weekly meetings with his or her team therapist. If the patient is on any medications, he or she also meets with the psychiatrist at least once a month.
At their daily meeting, HIP staff members discuss new, problematic and complicated cases, as well as patients who are leaving the program. Patients remain in HIP until the consensus of the team is that the soldier can return to treatment by traditional Army mental health providers or transfer to the Warrior Transition Unit (which has its own behavioral health providers), or until the soldier is assigned to a different post or is discharged from the Army. The High Interest Program coordinates support for soldiers during any of these transitions.
In first year, HIP averaged 150 enrolled patients at any given time. The patients spent an average of four weeks in the program. Only one soldier enrolled in HIP died by suicide. Although this track record seems to indicate that the program is effective, the authors warn that HIP requires more resources than standard clinical care, including mental health practitioners with both the skills and emotional resiliency to work with soldiers who are at high risk for suicide.
News
National News
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Instagram follows Tumblr, Pinterest; bans self-harm posts
The online photo-sharing service Instagram is banning images and accounts that condone suicide and self-harming behavior such as cutting. In a blog post announcing the new policy, the company said, “Going forward, we won’t allow accounts, images, or hashtags dedicated to glorifying, promoting or encouraging self-harm…It is important to note that this guideline does not extend to accounts created to constructively discuss or document personal experiences that show any form of self-harm where the intention is recovery or open discussion.” Content sharing service Pinterest and blog posting platform Tumblr have also recently updated their policies to prohibit this type of content.
Apr 24, 2012 -
Alcohol intoxication plays major role in U.S. suicides
According to researcher Mark Kaplan, new nationally based evidence supports the need to address alcohol misuse among patients at risk for suicide. Using data collected by the National Violent Death Reporting System between 2003 and 2009, Kaplan determined that about one in five U.S. residents who killed themselves were intoxicated with alcohol at the time of death. Intoxication was more prevalent among men, younger adults, and those using firearms as a suicide means. “There is a relationship between young age, alcohol use, and use of highly lethal means” among suicide decedents, said Kaplan. There is a lethal combination of gun availability, alcohol, and a precipitating life crisis. The message to clinicians is that they need to probe for alcohol misuse among patients at risk for suicide.” Kaplan, who is professor of community health at Portland State University, presented his findings at the most recent conference of the American Association of Suicidology.
Apr 20, 2012
International News
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Video Game May Help Treat Teen Depression
New ZealandAccording to a new study funded by New Zealand’s Ministry of Health, a video game designed to help teenagers learn to identify negative thoughts could be effective in treating depression. The game is called SPARX (Smart, Positive, Active, Realistic, X-factor thoughts) and is structured as a multilevel fantasy realm that players navigate over a seven-week period. Researchers who assessed the effectiveness of the game in teens with mild to moderate depression found that both standard therapy and the game reduced levels of anxiety and depression by about a third. About 44 percent of teens in the SPARX group achieved remission, compared to 26 percent receiving usual care. Researcher Sally Merry, an associate professor at the University of Auckland who was involved with the study, is working to make SPARX more widely available. Merry believes that the game could help fill treatment gaps, particularly in underserved areas and among teens wary of talking with adults to get help.
Apr 19, 2012Read the full text of this study, watch the trailer on YouTube and check out the product website!
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Sun retrains staff after Clarkson's 'selfish' suicides jibe
United KingdomTabloid newspaper The Sun has agreed to offer its staff training on reporting on suicide following a complaint by five suicide prevention and mental health support organizations, including Samaritans. The complaint centered on an article by columnist Jeremy Clarkson, which the groups characterized as containing “graphic imagery” and a “flippant” tone that “violated the dignity of people who had died by suicide and intruded into the grief of their families.” Clarkson had (among a number of other comments) characterized people who died by jumping in front of trains as “selfish.” Samaritans will offer the training and will be involved in future discussions with The Sun about reporting on suicide.
Apr 20, 2012
Funding
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Statewide Family Network Program grants
The purpose of this program is to enhance State capacity and infrastructure to be more oriented to the needs of children and adolescents with serious emotional disturbances and their families by providing information, referrals, and support to families who have a child with a serious emotional disturbance, and to create a mechanism for families to participate in State and local mental health services planning and policy development.
Applications are due by May 18, 2012
Eligible Applicants: Domestic public and private nonprofit entities that meet the criteria for family–controlled organizations and are not recipients of a 2010-2013 SAMHSA Statewide Family Network grantFunding Agency/Department: SAMHSAFunding Amount: Maximum of $1.3 million for 7 grants of up to $60,000 per grant annually, for three yearsStatewide Family Network Program grants
Show DetailsThe purpose of this program is to enhance State capacity and infrastructure to be more oriented to the needs of children and adolescents with serious emotional disturbances and their families by providing information, referrals, and support to families who have a child with a serious emotional disturbance, and to create a mechanism for families to participate in State and local mental health services planning and policy development.
Applications are due by May 18, 2012
Eligible Applicants: Domestic public and private nonprofit entities that meet the criteria for family–controlled organizations and are not recipients of a 2010-2013 SAMHSA Statewide Family Network grant
Funding Agency/Department: SAMHSA
Funding Amount: Maximum of $1.3 million for 7 grants of up to $60,000 per grant annually, for three years
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Statewide Consumer Network grants
The purpose of this program is to enhance statewide consumer-run organizations to promote service system capacity and infrastructure development that is recovery-focused and resiliency-oriented. The program seeks to address the needs of underserved and under-represented consumers, such as: veterans; those with histories of trauma; those from ethnic, racial, or cultural minority groups; and those who have been involved in the criminal justice system. Outcomes include decreased community rates of suicide.
Applications are due by May 18, 2012
Eligible Applicants: Domestic public and private nonprofit entities that meet the criteria for consumer-controlled organizations and are not recipients of a 2010-2013 SAMHSA Statewide Consumer Network grantFunding Agency/Department: SAMHSAFunding Amount: Maximum $2.31 million for 11 grants of $70,000 annually, for three yearsStatewide Consumer Network grants
Show DetailsThe purpose of this program is to enhance statewide consumer-run organizations to promote service system capacity and infrastructure development that is recovery-focused and resiliency-oriented. The program seeks to address the needs of underserved and under-represented consumers, such as: veterans; those with histories of trauma; those from ethnic, racial, or cultural minority groups; and those who have been involved in the criminal justice system. Outcomes include decreased community rates of suicide.
Applications are due by May 18, 2012
Eligible Applicants: Domestic public and private nonprofit entities that meet the criteria for consumer-controlled organizations and are not recipients of a 2010-2013 SAMHSA Statewide Consumer Network grant
Funding Agency/Department: SAMHSA
Funding Amount: Maximum $2.31 million for 11 grants of $70,000 annually, for three years
The SPRC is supported by a grant (1 U79 SM059945) from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS). No official endorsement by SAMHSA or DHHS for the information on this web site is intended or should be inferred.
The Suicide Prevention Resource Center (SPRC) is a project in EDC's Health and Human Development Division
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