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Announcements

  • AFSP/SPRC add QPR for Law Enforcement to the Best Practices Registry for Suicide Prevention

    Question, Persuade, Refer (QPR) for Law Enforcement is a 90-minute online certificate training program that teaches law enforcement professionals how to detect, intervene with, and refer someone at risk for suicide. Adapted from the broader Question, Persuade, and Refer gatekeeper training intervention, it teaches members of the law enforcement community to recognize and respond positively to someone exhibiting suicide warning signs and behaviors. QPR for Law Enforcement is available from the QPR Institute for a fee.

    For more information

  • Sources of Strength has been added to the National Registry of Evidence-Based Programs and Practices (NREPP) and to the Best Practices Registry for Suicide Prevention

    Sources of Strength, a universal suicide prevention program, is designed to build socio-ecological protective influences among high school students to reduce suicide risk. Trained student peer leaders work with adult advisors at school and in the community to conduct well-defined messaging activities intended to change peer group norms influencing coping practices and problem behaviors (e.g., self-harm, drug use, unhealthy sexual practices), to reduce the acceptability of suicide as a response to distress, to increase the acceptability of seeking help, and to improve communication between youth and adults.

    For more information

  • Dynamic Deconstructive Psychotherapy (DDP) has been added to the National Registry of Evidence-Based Programs and Practices (NREPP) and to the Best Practices Registry for Suicide Prevention

    Dynamic Deconstructive Psychotherapy is a 12- to 18-month, manual-driven treatment for adults with borderline personality disorder and other complex behavior problems, such as alcohol or drug dependence, self-harm, eating disorders, and recurrent suicide attempts. The weekly, one-hour individually adapted sessions help clients heal from a negative self-image and maladaptive processing of emotionally charged experiences and connect with their experiences as well as develop authentic and fulfilling connections with others.


    For more information

Research

  • Self-Harm Online Support Networks

    Research on young people participating in SharpTalk, an online self-harm support forum, may help mental health professionals create effective online communities for young people who practice self-harm. According to the authors of this study, “the increasing use of online forums as a source of health support, and a social space, means that an understanding of these spaces and communications within these spaces is crucial for health care providers and researchers working with young people.”

    The authors suggest that it is important for people facilitating online support forums to identify and help participants struggling with the informal rules developed by members of the forum, since acceptance by a supportive community of peers can help young participants effectively address their self-harm behaviors.

    The researchers found that the young participants established informal expectations for appropriate posting. These expectations were shaped by their experiences in other online communities and concerned issues such as how posters introduce themselves, establish their “credentials” for posting, describe their history of self-harm, demonstrate their knowledge of self-harm and appropriate behavior in online forums, ask for help, and provide support to other members. Especially important is the ability of participants “to maintain appropriate boundaries and avoid triggering or responding to triggers from other young people who self-harmed.”

    SharpTalk was an experimental online forum created for the purposes of this research. SharpTalk involved 77 invited participants and was moderated by mental health professionals.

    Smithson, J., Sharkey, S., Hewis, E., Jones, R., Emmens, T., Ford, T., & Owens, C. (2011). Membership and boundary maintenance on an online self-harm forum. Qualitative Health Research, 21(11), 1567-1575.

News

National News

  • Preventing depression requires proactive interventions by health care system

    According to University of California San Francisco researcher Ricardo F. Munoz, between 22 and 38 percent of major depressive episodes could be prevented with currently available interventions. In an article in American Psychologist, Munoz and his co-authors call for the U.S. healthcare system to establish ways to identify people at risk for depression and provide them with access to preventive interventions. “Why wait until people are seriously depressed to teach them [mood management] skills?” said Munoz. “If we can teach these skills earlier, serious depression can be prevented and we could reduce unnecessary suffering significantly.” The article builds on World Health Organization research naming depression as the number one cause of disability in the world, as well as a 2009 Institute of Medicine report on the prevention of mental, emotional, and behavioral disorders.

    May 15, 2012

    HealthCanal

    Learn more about the IOM report

    Article abstract

     

  • Army to review its handling of psychiatric evaluations

    The Army has ordered a service-wide review to determine whether its mental health clinicians are issuing consistent and accurate diagnoses. Concerns about the system came to light last fall when soldiers at Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Tacoma alleged that doctors at Madigan Army Medical Center had changed their diagnoses of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) to less serious conditions in order to save the Army money. The Army agreed to review the Madigan cases, and so far, a PTSD diagnosis has been reinstated for about 100 of 300 soldiers whose original PTSD diagnosis had been reversed. “The Army clearly realizes they have a nationwide, systematic problem on their hands,” said Senator Patty Murray (D-WA). “I credit them with taking action, but it will be essential that this vast and truly historic review is done the right way.” A diagnosis of PTSD could cost as much as $1.5 million in disability compensation over a soldier’s lifetime, according to an internal Army memorandum.

    May 17, 2012

    New York Times

State News

  • Youth suicide prevention bill signed into law

    New legislation signed by South Carolina governor Nikki Haley will require two hours of training in youth suicide awareness and prevention for middle and high school teachers. The training will begin with the 2013-2014 school year and will count toward the continuing education credits teachers need in order to renew their credentials every five years.

    May 25, 2012

    The State [South Carolina]

    Read South Carolina House Bill 4690, the Jason Flatt Act

  • Gov signs suicide prevention bill

    Alaska governor Sean Parnell has signed legislation requiring at least two hours of suicide prevention training for school personnel who work with students in grades 7 through 12. School personnel receiving the training will include teachers, administrators, and counselors.

    May 24, 2012

    Anchorage Daily News

    Read Alaska Senate Bill 137, the Jason Flatt Act

International News

  • A friendly voice that you can depend on

    China

    China is making strides in suicide research and prevention, but there is significant unmet need, according to this article in China Daily. “The proportion of the population that is suicidal is still very high and our current psychological and medical resources are lacking,” said Li Xianyun, associate director and senior psychiatrist at the Beijing Suicide Research and Prevention Center. “China has a great shortage of institutes and professional staff to provide preventive services.” The Beijing center, which has been operating since 2002, runs a 24-hour hotline that provides crisis counseling for those in distress. Counseling services are not widely available except in large cities like Beijing and Shanghai, however. An increasing number of grassroots organizations are working to fill in the gaps by offering hotlines and online information about suicide.

    May 24, 2012

    China Daily

     

    Visit the website of the Beijing Suicide Research and Prevention Center