This study found impulsiveness and depression to be risk factors for adolescent nonsuicidal self-injury and play a crucial role between cumulative ecological risk and NSSI in adolescents. To read the full article, choose Open Athens “Institutional Login” and search for “Midlands Partnership”.
"The evidence in this article suggests the suicide prevention potential of prioritising the issue at hand and helping men solve problems with practical advice first, before addressing any underlying psychological issues that may have exacerbated the crisis."
"The authors highlight that clinicians could focus on depression for those who present with suicidal ideation and loneliness; but that if clients report experiencing romantic loneliness, reduction in ideation may be resistant to lessening." It isn't just older people who experience loneliness - younger people do too.
Initial psychological assessments, formulation and interventions should take into account service users’ socio-economic backgrounds and potential systemic changes that can be made in order to reduce the risk of self-harm. The established links between how area-level and individual characteristics may influence the risk of self-harm can help clinicians conceptualise the service users’ difficulties and develop initial hypotheses to drive their action plan and intervention, as well as explore more in-depth the systems surrounding the individual. The study offers insights for policymakers, as reducing deprivation and social inequalities can be proven an important strategy in suicide prevention (Hawton et al., 2001). This could be done by ensuring access to practical support for vulnerable groups, such as employment and financial assistance, or advocating on their behalf when needed (i.e., writing letters of support to access benefits or safe housing).
Psychotherapy for self-harm - Hannah Wallace summarises a systematic review exploring people's experiences of psychotherapy for self-harming behaviours.
The COVID-19 pandemic and associated lockdowns were predicted to have a major impact on suicidal behaviour, including self-harm. However, current studies have produced contradictory findings with limited trend data. To read the full article, choose Open Athens “Institutional Login” and search for “Midlands Partnership”.
Suicidal behavior is heritable and is a major cause of death worldwide. Two large-scale genome-wide association studies (GWASs) recently discovered and cross-validated genome-wide significant (GWS) loci for suicide attempt (SA). The present study leveraged the genetic cohorts from both studies to conduct the largest GWAS meta-analysis of SA to date. Multi-ancestry and admixture-specific meta-analyses were conducted within groups of significant African, East Asian, and European ancestry admixtures. To read the full article, choose Open Athens “Institutional Login” and search for “Midlands Partnership”.
Authors concluded in-school peer friendships are associated with self harm thoughts and behaviour but can also be positive. Implications for practice include increasing sense of community within schools (staff and peers care about students as individuals, not just about learning); identify friendship groups where one or more individuals have known self harm; have school-based interventions in place to address self-harm
The authors identified several important clinical practice implications and opportunities for youth suicide prevention:
- realise importance of positive experiences when seeking help
- aware that early suicidal thoughts can progress and represent an opportunity for early intervention
- not assume shared meanings of language - work with the young person to examine the language and find shared meaning together
- take an individualisd, person-centred approach to work with young people
The authors suggest that psychoeducation could help prisoners recognise and identify emotions, as a precursor to communicating them to others. Drawing on the findings from this study in particular, experiencing either a turmoil of mixed emotions or an emotional void may be an indicator of a risk of subsequent violence to themselves or others. Lastly, the drawing task supports other research indicating that art therapy could be helpful for prisoners (Gussak, 2009).
In this editorial we, as members of the 2022 NICE Guideline Committee, highlight and discuss what, in our view, are the key guideline recommendations (generated through evidence synthesis and consensus) for mental health professionals when caring for people after self-harm, and we consider some of the implementation challenges. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/cpp.2893?af=R
Suicide and suicide-related incidents have increased within women’s prisons in the UK. This paper aims to synthesise the findings of qualitative literature, to gain a deeper understanding of the how women and staff in English prisons experience and explain the causes of their suicidal behaviours. To read the full article, choose Open Athens “Institutional Login” and search for “Midlands Partnership”.
The purpose of this paper is to discuss the response of the relevant authorities to evidence that female primary schoolteachers have an elevated suicide risk in the UK. The paper situates the recent tragic death of a primary school head teacher, following an Ofsted inspection at her school, within the wider context of teacher suicide deaths and asks what, if any, action the authorities have taken to prevent avoidable suicide deaths from occurring. To read the full article, choose Open Athens “Institutional Login” and search for “Midlands Partnership”.
Young people who present to services should be routinely asked about online self-harm image viewing behaviour; clinicians or other frontline staff working with young people should be aware of the potential for harm. The eight areas of impact identified could guide routine clinical assessment. However, the findings clearly point to the complex, fluid and individual nature of interaction and response, and that there are potentially important gains not least in terms of social connection, support and recovery that should not be overlooked. In fact, boundaries between positive and negative impacts can be blurred. For whom are they harmful or beneficial? When? Why? All impacts and functions should be explored in practice with a young person to identify vulnerabilities and protective factors.
Suicide self-harm children - meta-analysis estimates prevalence rates of self-harm behaviours and suicidal ideation in children aged 12 years and under.
A group of MSc students at UCL summarise a study exploring the secondary mental health care treatment patients with comorbid PTSD and suicidality receive.
Loneliness is prevalent among individuals with mental illnesses. This cross-sectional survey study examined the moderating effects of self-esteem and perceived support from families and friends on the association of loneliness with suicide risk and depression in individuals with schizophrenia. To read the full article, choose Open Athens “Institutional Login” and search for “Midlands Partnership”.
Interpersonal factors play an important role in the etiology and treatment of depression. Social support derives from compassionate words and helpful actions provided by family, friends or a significant other. The present study was designed to examine various sources of social support as they relate to the severity of depressive symptoms, hopelessness and suicide risk in adult psychiatric outpatients.