SUICIDE PREVENTION

Suicide Prevention

ABSTRACT

In this paper, we try to explore the notion of suicide prevention in a holistic context. The main focus of the research is on the prevention of the growing rate of suicide across the world and the reasons for which people opt for such an inhumane practice. Suicide is a violation of human rights and humanity and every culture in the world condemns this practice. There are varying reasons for which, people opt for committing suicide, and research has found that when troubled and hopeless people are provided counseling on matters of their lives which compels them to kill themselves, the current situation can be alleviated. This research would look into the interventions and schemes which are designed to help people live better lives and prevent them from committing suicide.

Suicide Prevention

Introduction

The Surgeon General's Call to Action to Prevent Suicide (USPHS, 1999) emphasized the need for effective suicide prevention strategies. This need is particularly pressing in adolescents, with nearly 9% reporting a suicide attempt in the prior year. Furthermore, suicide is the third main cause of death for adolescents in the U.S. Intervening with adolescents who recently attempted suicide or engaged in self- injury is vital because these behaviors are predictive of future suicidal behavior, and risk of repetition is highest in the first 3-6 months post-attempt. Prior suicidal behavior elevates the risk for subsequent death by suicide 10-60 fold. Moreover, adolescents with depressive disorders and a history of suicidal behavior are a particularly high risk group for repeated and completed suicide (Meichenbaum, 2007). Despite this public health problem, there are no empirically supported individual psychotherapies for adolescents shown effective in reducing suicidal behavior through randomized controlled trials (RCT). Importing empirically-supported treatments for depressed adolescents to suicidal adolescents may not be appropriate because the trials in which efficacy established excluded suicidal teens. In an effort to target the suicidal adolescent population, Dialectical Behavioral Therapy adapted (DBT-A). DBT-A, employs individual therapy and group skills training and targets suicidal behavior. A quasi-experimental investigation of DBT-A vs. usual care in suicidal adolescents with borderline personality disorder features reported that in the DBT-A group, although not statistically significant, fewer subjects made suicide attempts, fewer subjects hospitalized, and the completion rates for treatment were higher (Lester, 2009). However, this was not an RCT and focused only on adolescents with borderline symptoms. Family, group-oriented and brief, adjunctive psychosocial intervention models tested in suicidal adolescents. Wood, Trainor, Rothwell, Moore, and Harrington (2001) evaluated the efficacy of developmental group therapy for adolescents with self-injury behavior, using problem solving and cognitive behavior therapy, DBT, and psychodynamic group psychotherapy strategies. Patients attended six “acute” group sessions organized around specific themes (i.e., relationships, school problems and peer relationships, family problems, anger management, depression and self-harm, hopelessness and feelings about the future), followed by weekly group therapy. The experimental treatment, compared to routine care, showed a reduction in episodes of self-harm, time to first repetition of self-harm was also delayed, and school attendance improved. There was no differential treatment effect on depression, ...