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Announcements

  • SPRC hosts webinar, Sources of Strength: Preventing Suicide among High School Students through Peer Leadership and Adult Mentoring, Thursday, July 26, 2012, 3:00-4:30 PM ET

    Sources of Strength is a program that trains diverse high school students to serve as peer leaders and connects them with adult advisors at school and in the community. With support from the advisors, the peer leaders 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). This webinar will highlight the critical aspects of the Sources of Strength program, which could be replicated in other settings. It will also describe an effective approach to program evaluation. Specific attention will be given to enhancing protective factors associated with suicide at the school population level.

    For more information

  • Teenscreen sponsors webinar, Predicting Suicide: How a Simple Scale Can Help Save Teens’ Lives --Thursday, July 26, 1:00-2:00 PM ET

    Kelly Posner, PhD is the Director of the Center for Suicide Risk Assessment and Associate Clinical Professor of Medical Psychology, Columbia University. This webinar will provide insights and practice strategies that have the potential to improve mental health in primary care and reverse a public health crisis.

    For more information

Research

  • Suicidal Risk Factors in Older and Middle-Aged Adults

    Suicide prevention efforts for older adults should respond to the strong association between physical disease and suicide in this age group, according to members of a research team that investigated self-harm (that is, suicide attempt-related injuries) in three large English hospitals.

    The team compared people 55 years of age and older with “middle-aged patients” (35-54 years of age) treated for a first-time episode of self-harm. Their research revealed that “compared to middle-aged patients, older patients used alcohol less frequently at the time of self-harm, more often tried to avoid discovery, more often premeditated their attempts, and, finally, more often expressed an intention to die or left a suicide note.” Although the rate of another incident of self-harm was lower for older adults than middle-aged people, older adults were more likely to die during subsequent attempts. Physical health problems among older adults predicted the likelihood of subsequent attempts of self-harm. Other risk factors for suicide – including current psychiatric treatment, alcohol abuse, and hopelessness – “hardly contributed to the risk of repetition.” Physical health problems were not associated with the risk of repeated suicide attempts among middle-aged patients. The authors suggest that their research (1) supports the need for programs for older adults whose suicidal behavior is associated with physical ailments and (2) underscores the importance of not generalizing risk factors for suicide from one age group to another (especially from population studies done predominantly on younger people to the older adult population).

    Oude, R. C., Cooper, J., Murphy, E., Steeg, S., Kapur, N., & Purandare, N. B. (2011). First episode of self-harm in older age: A report from the 10-year prospective Manchester Self-Harm Project. Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, 72(6), 737-743.

News

National News

  • A Light Approach to a Grim Issue: Suicide Prevention

    This article discusses a new suicide prevention campaign's use of humor to reach men ages 25 to 64. ManTherapy is a Colorado campaign in partnership with the Colorado Office of Suicide Prevention, the Carson J. Spencer Foundation, and financing from the Anschutz Family Foundation. The campaign features an interactive website with a fictional therapist, Rich Mahogany. Additional advertising will include billboards, restroom posters and drink coasters. "The stigma around mental health for men is even greater than it is for the general population," said Joseph Conrad, the chief executive of Cactus, a Denver based marketing and communications firm. "We thought humor would really crack that stigma and draw men in." Jarrod T. Hindman, director of the Colorado Office of Suicide Prevention, said funny ads for other sensitive men's health issues have demonstrated that humor can work for difficult topics. The initial concept for the campaign drew some skepticism from both suicide survivors and mental health professionals who played an advisory role in the effort.

    Jul 8, 2012

    New York Times

  • Police officer stress creates significant health risks compared to general population, study finds

    A newly released University of Buffalo School of Public Health study of the Buffalo Police Department reports that the daily psychological stresses that police officers experience in their work put them at significantly higher risk than the general population for a host of long-term physical and mental health effects. "This is one of the first police population-based studies to test the association between the stress of being a police officer and psychological and health outcomes," says John Violanti, PhD, professor of social and preventive medicine in the UB School of Public Health and Health Professions, and principal investigator on the study, funded by the National Institutes of Health. This study also found that suicide rates were more than eight times higher in working officers than they were in officers who had retired or left the police force. "This finding challenges the common assumption that separated or retired officers are at increased risk for suicide," says Violanti, noting, however, that the need for suicide prevention efforts remains important for both active and retired officers.

    Jul 10, 2012

    MedicalXpress

State News

  • Local officials voice support for suicide barrier on the Golden Gate Bridge

    In February 2010, The Board of Directorsof the Golden Gate Bridge, Highway and Transportation District gave landmark approval to a suicide barrier, setting the stage for construction if money could be found. Supporters of the barrier noted that when President Barack Obama signed a transportation bill last week that the bill includes language allowing federal funds to flow to the project. Though it doesn't provide any of the $50 million needed to build the planned net barrier, it makes it eligible for federal funding, which was not the case previously. "A bulk of transportation projects are funded with federal money, so not being eligible created a huge hurdle. “This provides an opportunity."" said Golden Gate Bridge General Manager Denis Mulligan. This article includes a photo illustration of the suicide prevention option approved by the board of directors.

    Jul 13, 2012

    Marin Independent Journal [San Rafael, California]