Suicide Risk Assessment And Prevention

This book explores suicide prevention perspectives from around the world, considering both professionals’ points of view as well as first-person accounts from suicidal individuals. Scholars around the globe have puzzled over what makes a person suicidal and what is in the minds of those individuals who die by suicide. Most often the focus is not on the motives for suicide, nor on the phenomenology of this act, but on what is found from small cohorts of suicidal individuals. This book offers a tentative synthesis of a complex phenomenon, and sheds some light on models of suicide that are less frequently encountered in the literature. Written by international experts, it makes a valuable contribution to the field of suicidology that appeals to a wide readership, from mental health professionals to researchers in suicidology and students.

Suicide is a major public health concern in the United States (US), claiming over 36,000 lives each year and nearly 100 lives each day, and suicide among military and Veteran populations is of particular concern. Veterans returning from the Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts, referred to as Operation Enduring Freedom/Operation Iraqi Freedom (OEF/OIF) Veterans, may be particularly at risk, although the limited available data has shown mixed results. Several aspects of military experience may increase the risk of suicide, including mental health and substance abuse. Many risk factors specific to the OEF/OIF population have yet to be thoroughly evaluated and incorporated into clinical management. Ideally, suicide risk assessment tools need to account for the relationship among different risk factors and identify risk factors or combinations of risk factors that are particularly associated with suicidal self-directed violence. To be practically useful, such tools will be brief enough to be conducted in a primary care setting and will identify a threshold beyond which preventive action should be taken. Risk assessment tools should be able to discriminate those at high- and low-risk for suicidal self-directed violence. Likewise, studies of emerging risk factors need to evaluate the contribution of a new potential predictor of suicide and self-directed violence in the context of known risk factors in order to weigh the contribution of the new risk factor against those that are currently known. The objective of this report is to review recent evidence about risk factors and risk assessment tools within Veteran and military populations to provide evidence for clinical practice guideline development specific to these populations. The key questions addressed in this report were: Key Question #1. What assessment tools are effective for assessing risk of engaging in suicidal self-directed violence in Veteran and military populations? Key Question #2. In addition to the risk factors included by current assessment tools, what other risk factors predict suicidal self-directed violence in Veteran and military populations?

This book has been replaced by Managing Suicidal Risk, Third Edition, ISBN 978-1-4625-5269-6.

This book offers mental health clinicians a comprehensive guide to assessing and managing suicide risk. Suicide has now come to be understood as a multidimensionally determined outcome, which stems from the complex interaction of biological, genetic, psychological, sociological and environmental factors. Based on recent evidence and an extensive literature review, the book provides straightforward, essential information that can easily be applied in a wide variety of disciplines.

A practical and easy-to-use guide for healthcare professionals on the prevention, assessment and treatment of people at risk of suicide.

With recent studies using genetic, epigenetic, and other molecular and neurochemical approaches, a new era has begun in understanding pathophysiology of suicide. Emerging evidence suggests that neurobiological factors are not only critical in providing potential risk factors but also provide a promising approach to develop more effective treatment and prevention strategies. The Neurobiological Basis of Suicide discusses the most recent findings in suicide neurobiology. Psychological, psychosocial, and cultural factors are important in determining the risk factors for suicide; however, they offer weak prediction and can be of little clinical use. Interestingly, cognitive characteristics are different among depressed suicidal and depressed nonsuicidal subjects, and could be involved in the development of suicidal behavior. The characterization of the neurobiological basis of suicide is in delineating the risk factors associated with suicide. The Neurobiological Basis of Suicide focuses on how and why these neurobiological factors are crucial in the pathogenic mechanisms of suicidal behavior and how these findings can be transformed into potential therapeutic applications.

Meeting a vital need, this book helps clinicians rapidly identify risks for suicidal behavior and manage an at-risk teen's ongoing care. It provides clear guidelines for conducting suicide risk screenings and comprehensive risk assessments and implementing immediate safety-focused interventions, as well as longer-term treatment plans. Designed for day-to-day use in private practice, schools, or other settings, the volume is grounded in a strong evidence base. It features quick-reference clinical pointers, sample dialogues with teens and parents, and reproducible assessment and documentation tools. Most of the reproducible materials can be downloaded and printed in a convenient 8 1/2" x 11" size. Winner (First Place)--American Journal of Nursing Book of the Year Award, Child Health Category

This book has been replaced by Child and Adolescent Suicidal Behavior, Second Edition, ISBN 978-1-4625-4658-9.