The prevention of suicide in inpatient mental health settings has long been a focus for clinicians and managers. Understanding what can be done in community, emergency and general practice settings to reduce the number of suicides has presented more of a challenge. This briefing introduces the National Patient Safety Agency’s (NPSA) new suicide prevention toolkits [read the full story…]
Suicide is rarely far from the headlines these days, but the last week has seen a number of high profile stories in the mainstream media. First there was the tragic death of the much loved footballer Gary Speed, which has been followed by a huge amount of press coverage. Then on Saturday The Sun newspaper [read the full story…]
In November 2007, the US Food and Drug Administration required that black box warnings be placed on all antidepressant medications warning they may result in increased risk of suicidal tendencies in children and adolescents. It is now considered good practice that patients of all ages who initiate antidepressants should be monitored for clinical worsening or [read the full story…]
People with an interest in the absolute risk of suicide, and how suicide relates to other mental health conditions, will want to read more about this new Danish cohort study published in the Archives of General Psychiatry. This prospective study involved 176,347 people who were followed up for as long as 36 years from the [read the full story…]
Assisted suicide generates debate on a variety of levels – ethical, moral, religious, spiritual, political, cultural, psychological, professional and legal. It is an issue that affects the nursing workforce, both as individuals and as health professionals. Most people who are approaching the end of their lives in the UK do not ask a health professional [read the full story…]
Prison staff need to record and share more information about violence and intimidation to improve prisoner safety, said Nigel Newcomen, the new Prisons and Probation Ombudsman (PPO), publishing a report into the impact of intimidation, violence and bullying on those who take their own lives in prison. The report has been produced as a result [read the full story…]
This week’s British Medical Journal features a review of depression in later life. The authors bring together recent systematic reviews, meta-analyses, and randomised controlled trials to summarise best current knowledge about the diagnosis and management of patients who develop depression in later life. The review addresses the following questions: What is late life depression and [read the full story…]
There continues to be some debate about the numbers of people with learning disabilities in UK prisons, partly due to the lack of consensus on definitions of learning disability in studies and different approaches to establishing the boundaries between learning difficulty, borderline learning disability and learning disability. The Bradley report recommended amongst its key recommendations [read the full story…]
Some of the risk factors for suicide are well known. Research shows that mental illness is the most significant risk factor and we also know that gender plays a big part (men are at greater risk). However, some of the other potential risk factors are less well study, such as the impact that serious physical [read the full story…]
A new consultation on preventing suicide has been launched today by the Care Services Minister, Paul Burstow. Bereaved families and experts in general practice, local government, transport, mental health and criminal justice will all help to inform a new strategy to be published in the New Year following a 3-month consultation phase. One person dies [read the full story…]
