Mathematical and computational modeling of suicide as a complex dynamical system

Background: Despite decades of research, the current suicide rate is nearly identical to what it was 100 years ago. This slow progress is due, at least in part, to a lack of formal theories of suicide. Existing suicide theories are  instantiated verbally, omitting details required for precise explanation and prediction, rendering them difficult to effectively […]

LGBTQ+ suicide: A call to action for researchers and governments on the politics, practices, and possibilities of LGBTQ+ suicide prevention

Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ+) people have consistently been estimated to be disproportionately affected by suicidal ideation and suicide attempts when compared to their cisgender (nontransgender), heterosexual counterparts. However, less is known about why this devastating health inequality exists, how it impacts on distinct communities within LGBTQ+ populations, and how it can be […]

Editorial: Understand the complex phenomenon of suicide: From research to clinical practice

Suicide is undoubtedly a worldwide major challenge for the public health. It is estimated that more than 150,000 persons in Europe die as a result of suicide every year and in several European countries suicide represents the principal cause of death among young people aged 14–25 years (1). Moreover, it has been reported that the standardized […]

An emergency department survey on research participation in the patient with suicidal ideation or suicide attempt

The patient expressing suicidal ideation is a common mental health presentation in the emergency department (ED) but a notion exists that this psychiatric crisis precludes them from research participation. In order to better understand the potential research participation of suicidal patients, this study surveyed patients in the ED with suicide attempt or ideation. This was […]

Reporting ethical procedures in suicide prevention research: Current status and recommendations

Objective: Ethical concerns frequently arise in suicide prevention research regarding participant safety and confidentiality. Despite a substantial literature on managing and navigating ethical concerns in suicide research, little attention has been paid to the reporting of ethical procedures. Furthermore, standard procedures for reporting ethical risk management procedures have not been developed. Method: A review of the current […]

Ethical suicide prevention in an artificial intelligence driven society

Objective To explore the drivers, objectives and challenges for ethical artificial intelligence-based suicide prevention in a technologically evolving clinical and societal context. Method Narrative selected literature review. Results There is an ethical need for more effective suicide prevention that is aware of the limitations of prediction. AI research needs to recognise the importance of clinical […]

Healthy debate, frustration, or a field in chaos?

This editorial talks about the issue of suicide. The author talks about different scenarios and other aspects that take part of this issue.

Suicide prevention citizenship: Nurturing future research leaders in suicide prevention through effective mentorship

In this editorial, the authors provide their insights into how to establish and sustain effective mentorship. They intend to offer an avenue through which discussions on mentorship for early career researchers (ECRs) in suicide prevention research can be advanced. To achieve this purpose, they review the current literature on mentorship in mental health research and […]

Suicide studies today: Where do we come from? Who are we? Where are we going?

The authors of this paper are all clinicians. We come from the background of general psychiatry and clinical psychology. All of us are psychoanalysts, and committed to treatment of suicidal patients. Suicidology, as reflected by what is published in the major journals, has changed over the years. While something has clearly been gained by an […]

Widening the cracks: Unintended harms of excluding individuals at risk of suicide from broader mental health research

The inclusion of participants at risk of suicide in general mental health intervention research can make balancing participant safety and recruiting a representative sample challenging. On the one hand, excluding  these individuals can preclude researchers from evaluating interventions for those who are most in need (Fisher et al., 2002; Hom et al., 2017). On the […]

Suicide prevention research priorities: Final report October 2022

Suicide continues to be a major public health challenge in Australia with significant individual, community, and societal impacts. Targeted and timely research efforts are essential to effectively address this challenge in a rapidly changing world. Building on our earlier research priority setting exercise conducted in 2017, the present project aimed to inform future priorities in […]

Primary prevention research in suicide

At the American Association of Suicidology’s (AAS) 46th Annual Conference in Austin, Texas (http://www.suicidology.org/web/guest/education-and-training/annualconference), participants were challenged to  address why there has not been more progress in reducing the rates of completed suicides (Berman, 2013). A draft of recommendations from the National Action Alliance for Suicide Prevention’s Research  Prioritization Task Force was presented at the […]

The agenda development process of the United States’ National Action Alliance for Suicide Prevention Research Prioritization Task Force

The Global Burden of Disease (GBD) project estimates that over 782,000 individuals worldwide lost their lives to suicide in 2008 (WorldHealth Organization [WHO], 2012), with the risk of dying by suicide being  1.5 times higher than the risk of dying by homicide, and 4.3 times higher than that of dying during a military conflict1 (WHO, […]

New year’s changes

2013 starts with a new face for Crisis. After 7 years, a newly designed cover has been chosen to accompany the journal content, and I truly hope that our international  readership will like it. However, the most important change brought by the New Year is the 20% increase in the size of the journal – […]

Investigating official records of suicides for research purposes: Challenges and coping strategies

In many countries worldwide the circumstances of unnatural deaths, including suicides, are subject to official investigations, usually by medical examiners or coroners. In England and Wales, where our experience is based, investigations into sudden or unexplained deaths are conducted by a coroner, an independent officer appointed by the local government authority, who usually has a […]

Ethical issues relevant to the assessment of suicide risk in nonclinical research settings

Background: Our laboratory recently confronted this issue while conducting research with undergraduate students at the University of Waterloo (UW). Although our main objective was to examine cognitive and genetic features of individuals with schizotypal personality disorder (SPD), the study protocol also entailed the completion of various self-report measures to identify participants deemed at increased risk for […]

Intervention studies in suicide prevention research

Background: Despite the growing strength of the field of suicidology, various commentators have recently noted that insufficient effort is being put into intervention research, and that this is limiting our knowledge of which suicide prevention strategies might be the most effective. Aims: To profile the types of studies currently being undertaken by suicide prevention researchers from around […]

Research participation experiences of informants of suicide and control cases: Taken from a case-control psychological autopsy study of people who died by suicide

Background: Ethical issues have been raised about using the psychological autopsy approach in the study of suicide. The impact on informants of control cases who participated in case-control psychological autopsy studies has not been investigated. Aims: (1) To investigate whether informants of suicide cases recruited by two approaches (coroners’ court and public mortuaries) respond differently to the […]

Engagement and retention of suicide attempters in clinical research: Challenges and solutions

Background High attrition rates in longitudinal research can limit study generalizability, threaten internal validity, and decrease statistical power. Research has demonstrated that there can be significant differences between participants who complete a research study and those who drop out prematurely, and that treatment outcomes may be dependent on retention in a treatment protocol. Aims The […]

Suicidality in rural communities: A scoping review of research in Canada

A scoping review of research about suicidality in rural and remote Canadian communities, published between 2009 and July 2020 was conducted by searching Embase, Medline, CINAHL, PsychInfo, SocIndex, Geobase, and PsycArticles databases. Included articles were reviewed and charted using data extraction. Thirty-nine Canadian, non-Indigenous articles met inclusion. Most publications were based on quantitative research (23). […]

Utilisation and application of implementation science in complex suicide prevention interventions: A systematic review

Objectives Little is known about how complex, multilevel, and multicomponent suicide prevention interventions work in real life settings. Understanding the methods used to systematically adopt, deliver, and sustain these interventions could ensure that they have the best chance of unfolding their full effect. This systematic review aimed to examine the application and extent of utilisation […]

Countdown global mental health 2030: Making mental health count

This is the second Countdown GMH 2030 report. It is underpinned by an indicator framework composed of four main pillars: determinants of mental health, factors shaping the demand (and need) for mental health care,  factors shaping the strength of the mental health system, and wellbeing. The report presents an updated and extended indicator set, developed […]

White House report on mental health research priorities

The enclosed report expands on the following priority areas and outlines critical research gaps and opportunities in each priority area. Cross-cutting research priorities 1. Advancing equity in promoting mental health and in understanding, preventing, identifying, and treating mental health conditions 2. Understanding and leveraging digital mental health interventions 3. Supporting and expanding the mental health […]