Community pharmacist encounters with patients displaying suicide warning signs: A cross-sectional survey

Background: Mental health is a prominent public health issue exacerbated by the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic. Community pharmacists are positioned to contribute. Objectives: This study aimed to describe Iowa community pharmacists’ encounters, confidence, behaviors, and training needs related to patients with suicide warning signs and explore relationships between demographics and previous training with encounter frequency, […]

Warning signs for suicide attempts in psychiatric inpatients: Patient and informant perspectives

Objective: Warning signs can help prevent suicide attempts and death. It is important to develop an evidence base for warning signs that considers both self-perspectives (i.e., those at risk for suicide) and informant-perspectives (i.e., those who observe individuals at risk for suicide). Methods: A questionnaire assessing a diverse set of 80 potential warning signs (“present in the […]

24-hour warning signs for adolescent suicide attempts

Background: Little is known about when youth may be at greatest risk for attempting suicide, which is critically important information for the parents, caregivers, and professionals who care for youth at risk. This study used adolescent and parent reports, and a case-crossover, within-subject design to identify 24-hour warning signs (WS) for suicide attempts. Methods: Adolescents (N = 1094, ages 13 […]

Can we notice the suicidal warning signs of adolescents with different psychometric profiles before their death? Analysis of teachers’ reports

Background: This study aimed to analyze the suicidal warning signs of Korean students with different psychometric profiles based on teacher reports. Methods: This was a retrospective cohort study based on Korean school teachers’ responses to the Student Suicide Report Form. In total, 546 consecutive cases of student suicide were reported from 2017 to 2020. After missing data […]

Risk factors, warning signs, and drivers of suicide: What are they, how do they differ, and why does it matter?

Research investigating suicide attempts and deaths by suicide has yielded many specific risk factors and warning signs for future suicidal behaviors. Yet, even though these variables are each valuable for suicide prevention efforts, they may be limited in their applicability to clinical practice. The differences among risk factors, warning signs, and “drivers,” which are person-specific […]

Effect of the FDA black box suicidality warnings for antidepressants on suicide rates in the USA: Signal or noise?

Background: Some authors claimed that the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) black box warning on treatment-emergent suicidality with antidepressants in adolescents (issued 2004) and young adults (issued 2006) led to an increase of suicides, based on the analyses of ecological data with debatable assumptions about putative changes in suicide rates. Aims: To explore if putative changes in […]

Post-discharge suicide among high-risk psychiatric inpatients: Risk factors and warnings signs

Background The present study explored the predictive value of a novel suicide risk assessment with regard to suicide deaths within three years of discharge from an acute inpatient unit. The contributions of the different components of the assessment to overall determination of suicide risk were also explored. Methods A total of 380 acute psychiatric inpatients […]

Comparing warning signs of suicide between suicide decedents with depression and those non-diagnosed psychiatric disorders

Objective Early recognition of a high-risk group impending suicide is important. We aimed to compare warning signs depending on the nature of the psychiatric disorder and whether it was a documented diagnosis. Methods Data of suicide decedents were collected from police records from 2013 to 2017. We evaluate psychiatric symptoms and warning signs in three […]

Suicide risk factors and warning signs: What we’ve learned from the research

It’s important to understand that there are many potential suicide risk variables, the following are a subset of variables with strong empirical research support: Risk factors including a history of suicidal behaviors; suicidal thoughts; suicide preparation; Warning signs including severe substance abuse; impulsivity; critical relationship problems; severe health/pain problems; serious sleep problems and legal/financial crisis. See […]

A controlled examination of acute warning signs for suicide attempts among hospitalized patients

Background. Near-term risk factors for suicidal behavior, referred to as ‘warning signs’ (WS), distinguish periods of acute heightened risk from periods of lower risk within an individual. No prior published study has examined, using a controlled study design, a broad set of hypothesized WS for suicide attempt. This study addressed this gap through examination of […]

Under the surface: The role of covert cues in peer suicide risk referrals

Suicidal thoughts and behaviors are highly prevalent among adolescents, and peers are often the first, and sometimes only, people to know about youth suicidality. Since many adolescents do not directly disclose suicidal thoughts, school-based suicide prevention programs aim to train youth to recognize warning signs of suicide in their peers that serve as “cues” to […]

Suicide in children and young people: Can it happen without warning?

Background Parents bereaved by suicide often say the death of their loved one happened “out of the blue”. It is common for suicide in young people to be preceded by a number of indications of risk, including self-harm, the communication of suicidal ideas, and recent contact with services. We examined whether there is a group […]

Early evidence on the effects of regulators`suicidality warnings on SSRI prescriptions and suicide in children and adolescents

Objective: In 2003 and 2004, U.S. and European regulators issued public health warnings about a possible association between antidepressants and suicidal thinking and behavior. The authors assessed whether these warnings discouraged use of antidepressants in children and adolescents and whether they led to increases in suicide rates as a result of untreated depression. Method: The authors examined U.S. […]

Opportunities to intervene? “Warning signs” for suicide in the days before dying.

To validate warning signs for suicide, researchers interviewed 20 respondents, representing 17 suicides in Orleans Parish, Louisiana, about characteristics of the decedent in the year, month, and days preceding the death. Decedents did exhibit behaviors consistent with existing warning signs, but these were rarely new behaviors present 7 days prior to the suicide but not […]

Acute substance use as a warning sign for suicide attempts: A case-crossover examination of the 48 hours prior to a recent suicide attempt.

OBJECTIVE: The extent to which specific categories of acute substance use are short-term risk factors, or warning signs, for suicide attempts is unknown. The aim of the current study was to quantify the near-term effects of sole use and co-use of substances on medically attended suicide attempts. METHODS: The current study used a case-crossover design, […]

A mixed methods approach to identify cognitive warning signs for suicide attempts.

This study used a mixed methods approach to examine pathways to suicidal behavior by identifying cognitive warning signs that occurred within 1 day of a suicide attempt. Transcripts of cognitive therapy sessions from 35 patients who attempted suicide were analyzed using a modified grounded theory approach. Cognitive themes emerging from these transcripts included: state hopelessness, […]

Suicide warning signs in clinical practice.

This review discusses suicide warning signs in clinical practice and has three simple goals: 1) to help practitioners differentiate in a clinically meaningful fashion between warning signs and risk factors for suicide; 2) to articulate the link among warning signs for suicide, hopelessness, and intent to die; and 3) to assist practitioners in applying warning […]

Oklahoma Suicide Prevention Toolkit

The goal of this toolkit & training is to provide community advocates the necessary tools to develop & implement successful youth suicide prevention initiatives. Contents of the toolkit include: youth suicide prevention in Oklahoma; effective suicide prevention; youth suicide prevention strategies; getting organized; everyone has a role in youth suicide prevention; why youth participation?; community […]

Prevention of Suicidal Behaviors: a Task for all

In this editorial, the authors assert suicide is preventable & that everyone should be aware of the warning signs & how to respond to them. Prevention strategies on a societal level are also discussed. (2 refs.)

Life After Death: a Family’s Walk From A (Awful Death of Suicide) to Z (Zest for Living Again)

This book follows a family’s walk through the shadow of their loved one’s suicide, showing their struggle with grief & their eventual return to a zest for living through the help of their faith. The book was written after the author’s first husband died by suicide after struggling with a diagnosis of cancer.

Suicide Prevention for Military Families: What you Need to Know About Warning Signs and Getting Help

This pamphlet offers general information on warning signs of suicide & prevention strategies for family members of military personnel & veterans.

Police Suicide: an Executive’s Perspective (In: Suicide and Law Enforcement, edited by D C Sheehan & J I Warren)

Over the last 20 years, as researchers, police administrations & psychologists have focused on police stress, much effort has dealt with its negative manifestations: heart attacks, cardiovascular disease, premature death, digestive disturbances, ulcers, divorce, & substance abuse. By its nature, police suicide has been the subject of particular interest. That police suicide is a concern […]

Suicide Prevention Among Older Adults: a Guide for Family Members

This guide was designed for family members & other people who provide social support to older adults. The purpose of the guide is to help individuals recognize suicide risk factors & warning signs, & to know what to do if an older adult is at risk for suicide. JA