-
From the Publisher: A Personal Journey From a Survivor of Suicide: “From the Depths of Despair to a Mission of Advocacy”
I was drifting in and out of consciousness in the emergency room. “You have to drink this,” someone was saying as they held a tall plastic cup to my lips, filled with a tasteless ink-black liquid. I later learned that the charcoal drink was given to me to absorb the toxic soup that was in my...
-
Know the Signs: Help Prevent a Loved One’s Suicide
The following is a true story by a Beacon Health Options employee. Anna was one of the most talented and creative people I had ever known, and just about everyone who met her felt the same. She was a perfectionist to a fault, and there was seemingly nothing that she did not do well. The one person...
-
Does Our Healthcare System Perpetuate an Epidemic?
Suicide has been rightly classified as an epidemic, as evidenced by a precipitous increase in its incidence in recent decades. Between 1999 and 2018, the rate of completed suicides has risen by 35% in the United States (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2020). Some authors suggest suicide...
-
Dr. Richard Juman Interviews Dr. John Draper on Suicidality
In support of Suicide Prevention Month, Dr. Richard Juman, TeamHealth National Director of Psychological Services, recently interviewed Dr. John Draper, the Director of the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline. Listen as Dr. Juman and Dr. Draper discuss the challenging time we are all facing and...
-
Suicide Prevention, Intervention, and Postvention in the Time of COVID-19
Socioemotional challenges and crises are felt across the full spectrum of the population, not sparing any ethnic, racial, nationality, or age group. The personal and interpersonal consequences have been far-reaching in this current environment for both those with prior vulnerabilities and emotional...
-
Physical Illness, Depression, and Late-Life Suicide: Considerations and Opportunities for Enhancing Suicide Prevention
Suicide rates in the United States increased from an age-adjusted rate of 11.3/100,000 in 2007 to 14.0/100,000 in 2017 (CDC Fatal Injury Data). During that same period, rates among adults 65 and older remained higher than the national rate, climbing from 14.3 to 17.1/100,000. Increased risk for...
-
Implementing Universal Suicide Risk Screening in Healthcare Settings: Model Could Help Hospitals Better Identify and Aid Youth at Risk for Suicide
A new report, authored in part by researchers at the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), part of the National Institutes of Health, provides guidance on how to implement universal suicide risk screening of youth in medical settings. The report describes a way for hospitals to address the...
-
Depression, Suicide, Discrimination and Parity
In the immediate aftermath of the suicides of Kate Spade and Anthony Bourdain Gov. Cuomo issued a press release about new funding to address the rising rate of suicide. He stated: “Two high-profile suicides this week put mental illness front and center, but while those names were the ones in...
-
Impulsivity as a Predictor of Suicidality
Few topics trigger more dread to the human experience than death. Discussing death brings up fears of the unknown and loss of personal control- two of the primary components of anxiety. We know that when anxiety arises, avoidance is one of the more predictable coping mechanisms and as such, death...
-
Suicide and Substance Use
In America, one person dies by suicide every 13 minutes. According to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), it is the 2nd leading cause of death for teens, and the leading cause of death among people with substance use disorders. There is a strong association...
