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Causes, treatment and prevention of suicide

Section edited by Ute Lewitzka

This section will cover all aspects of a wide range of suicidality, considering studies of suicidal behaviour, its causes and effects but also its prevention and intervention approaches. Research which investigates psychological and sociological as well as neurobiological, genetic and pharmacological aspects of suicidal behaviour are also of great interest. The section also incorporates topics such as assessment and risk-management approaches, ethical issues in intervention research, cross-cultural risk factors for suicide as well as the needs of those bereaved by suicide.

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  1. Suicide is a significant public health concern in China and there is a need for evidence-based suicide prevention programs to assist people in the community who may be in a position to support those in their s...

    Authors: Shurong Lu, Wenjing Li, Brian Oldenburg, Yan Wang, Anthony F. Jorm, Yanling He and Nicola J. Reavley

    Citation: BMC Psychiatry 2020 20:454

    Content type: Research article

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  2. The occurrence and degree of suicidal ideation during the past month in adolescents should be regarded seriously. Several studies have noted that humor expression style and depressive emotion may influence ado...

    Authors: Chun-Yang Lee, Yi-Chen Chiang, An Li, Xian Li, Yao-Ting Wu, Yu-Jung Lin, Yuchen Zhao and Xiaoke Zhang

    Citation: BMC Psychiatry 2020 20:421

    Content type: Research article

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  3. The German Capability for Suicide Questionnaire (GCSQ) was developed to measure fearlessness of death and pain tolerance – two constructs central to the Interpersonal Theory of Suicide. Initial scale developme...

    Authors: Jan C. Cwik, Thomas Forkmann, Heide Glaesmer, Laura Paashaus, Antje Schönfelder, Dajana Rath, Sarah Prinz, Georg Juckel and Tobias Teismann

    Citation: BMC Psychiatry 2020 20:412

    Content type: Research article

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  4. During the perinatal period, suicides are more likely to occur in those with depression and who are not receiving active treatment at the time of death. Suicide is a common outcome in people with suicide ideat...

    Authors: Yoshiyuki Tachibana, Noriaki Koizumi, Masashi Mikami, Kana Shikada, Sayaka Yamashita, Mieko Shimizu, Kazuyo Machida and Hiroto Ito

    Citation: BMC Psychiatry 2020 20:389

    Content type: Research article

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  5. Major depressive disorder is an ordinary mental disorder, and suicide is considered to be a major concern among patients with MDD. Previous studies focused on the relationship between suicide attempts and meta...

    Authors: Ke Zhao, Siyao Zhou, Xiang Shi, Jianjun Chen, Yaoyao Zhang, Kaili Fan, Xiangyang Zhang, Wei Wang and Wei Tang

    Citation: BMC Psychiatry 2020 20:387

    Content type: Research article

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  6. The Ecuadorian earthquake in April 16th was the second strongest and deadliest in 2016 worldwide, with approximately one million people affected. In this paper, we analyzed the psychological impact and the rel...

    Authors: Rebekka M. F. Gerstner, Fernando Lara-Lara, Eduardo Vasconez, Ginés Viscor, Juan D. Jarrin and Esteban Ortiz-Prado

    Citation: BMC Psychiatry 2020 20:347

    Content type: Research article

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  7. Suicide is a major and complex public health problem. In Switzerland, suicide accounts for about 1000 deaths yearly and is the fourth leading cause of mortality. The first nationwide Swiss study of suicides id...

    Authors: M. Schmid, L. Michaud, N. Bovio and I. Guseva Canu

    Citation: BMC Psychiatry 2020 20:324

    Content type: Research article

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  8. Safe clinical practice for patients hospitalised in mental health care during a suicidal crisis is situated within a dynamic, non-linear and uncertain context. Under such complex conditions, the adaptive capac...

    Authors: Siv Hilde Berg, Kristine Rørtveit, Fredrik A. Walby and Karina Aase

    Citation: BMC Psychiatry 2020 20:316

    Content type: Research article

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  9. Most suicide attempters suffer from psychiatric disorders, which are often comorbid with personality disorders. The effects of intervention on patients who have attempted suicide with comorbid Axis I and II di...

    Authors: Kazunobu Norimoto, Katsumi Ikeshita, Toshifumi Kishimoto, Kazuo Okuchi, Naohiro Yonemoto, Tatsuya Sugimoto, Fuminori Chida, Shigero Shimoda, Yoshio Hirayasu and Chiaki Kawanishi

    Citation: BMC Psychiatry 2020 20:311

    Content type: Research article

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  10. In Ghana, rates of self-harm in young people are as high as they are in high income countries. Self-reported interpersonal, familial and societal stressors form the most important background, and self-harm is ...

    Authors: Emmanuel N-B. Quarshie, Mitch G. Waterman and Allan O. House

    Citation: BMC Psychiatry 2020 20:310

    Content type: Research article

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  11. Suicide is a leading cause of death globally. Suicide deaths are elevated in those experiencing severe mental health problems, including schizophrenia. Psychological talking therapies are a potentially effecti...

    Authors: Patricia A. Gooding, Daniel Pratt, Yvonne Awenat, Richard Drake, Rachel Elliott, Richard Emsley, Charlotte Huggett, Steven Jones, Navneet Kapur, Fiona Lobban, Sarah Peters and Gillian Haddock

    Citation: BMC Psychiatry 2020 20:306

    Content type: Study protocol

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  12. Suicidal ideation is a significant public health concern worldwide. Although suicides might be preventable through the provision of adequate treatment, mental health consultation is still mostly underutilized....

    Authors: Hin Moi Youn, Soo Hyun Kang, Sung-In Jang and Eun-Cheol Park

    Citation: BMC Psychiatry 2020 20:305

    Content type: Research article

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  13. In addition to the unstable political situation, Lebanon had experienced a cycle of wars, local armed conflicts, terrorist attacks, and crises (lack of clean water, recurrent power failure, and waste mismanage...

    Authors: Melissa Chahine, Pascale Salameh, Chadia Haddad, Hala Sacre, Michel Soufia, Marwan Akel, Sahar Obeid, Rabih Hallit and Souheil Hallit

    Citation: BMC Psychiatry 2020 20:304

    Content type: Research article

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  14. Debunking suicide myths, such as ‘asking someone about suicide could make them start thinking about it’ is a common strategy in suicide prevention education. However, there has been little research investigati...

    Authors: Angela Nicholas, Thomas Niederkrotenthaler, Nicola Reavley, Jane Pirkis, Anthony Jorm and Matthew J. Spittal

    Citation: BMC Psychiatry 2020 20:303

    Content type: Research article

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  16. Suicidal behavior is a prevalent psychiatric emergency in HIV-infected adults. Detection of suicidal ideation is important in planning early psychiatric intervention and optimizing HIV/AIDS management. Charact...

    Authors: Youdiil Ophinni, Adrian, Kristiana Siste, Martina Wiwie, Gina Anindyajati, Enjeline Hanafi, Reza Damayanti and Yoshitake Hayashi

    Citation: BMC Psychiatry 2020 20:255

    Content type: Research article

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  17. Self-harm, whether attributed to suicidal or non-suicidal motives, is associated with several poor outcomes in young people, including eventual suicide. Much of our understanding of self-harm in young people i...

    Authors: Emmanuel N-B Quarshie, Mitch G. Waterman and Allan O. House

    Citation: BMC Psychiatry 2020 20:234

    Content type: Research article

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  18. The Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) is proposed to predict behavioral intention. We conducted this study aimed to investigate the effects of Suicidal Ideation (SI) and constructs of TPB on suicidal intention.

    Authors: Forouzan Rezapur-Shahkolai, Mehdi Khezeli, Seyyed-Mohammad-Mahdi Hazavehei, Saeed Ariapooran, Ali Reza Soltanian and Alireza Ahmadi

    Citation: BMC Psychiatry 2020 20:217

    Content type: Research article

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  19. Despite the fact that the overwhelming majority of mental health services are delivered in outpatient settings, the effect of changes in non-hospital-based mental health care on increased suicide rates is larg...

    Authors: Peiyin Hung, Susan H Busch, Yi-Wen Shih, Alecia J McGregor and Shiyi Wang

    Citation: BMC Psychiatry 2020 20:188

    Content type: Research article

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  20. The Collaborative Assessment and Management of Suicidality (CAMS) is a therapeutic framework that has been shown to reduce suicidal ideation and overall symptom distress. CAMS has not been previously evaluated...

    Authors: Miriam Santel, Thomas Beblo, Frank Neuner, Michaela Berg, Kristina Hennig-Fast, David A. Jobes and Martin Driessen

    Citation: BMC Psychiatry 2020 20:183

    Content type: Study protocol

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  21. Anxiety is one of the most common psychiatric disorder and imposes a great burden on both the individual and the society. Previous studies indicate a high comorbidity of anxiety disorders and Attention Deficit...

    Authors: Yanmei Shen, Yaru Zhang, Bella Siu Man Chan, Fanchao Meng, Tingyu Yang, Xuerong Luo and Chunxiang Huang

    Citation: BMC Psychiatry 2020 20:180

    Content type: Research article

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  22. With increasing levels of suicide and self-harm behaviour in the criminal justice system professionals would benefit from a tool that can identify individuals who may be at risk of self-harm and/or suicidal be...

    Authors: Amanda E. Perry and Mike Horton

    Citation: BMC Psychiatry 2020 20:164

    Content type: Research article

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  23. This study aimed to determine conditional dependence relationships of variables that contribute to psychological vulnerability associated with suicide risk. A Bayesian network (BN) was developed and applied to...

    Authors: Jorge Barros, Susana Morales, Arnol García, Orietta Echávarri, Ronit Fischman, Marta Szmulewicz, Claudia Moya, Catalina Núñez and Alemka Tomicic

    Citation: BMC Psychiatry 2020 20:138

    Content type: Research article

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  24. Many persons with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are treated in long-term specialised care. In this population, suicidal behaviour troubles patients, families, and specialists in the field because it is diffic...

    Authors: Anne Huntjens, L. M. C. Wies van den Bosch, Bram Sizoo, Ad Kerkhof, Marcus J. H. Huibers and Mark van der Gaag

    Citation: BMC Psychiatry 2020 20:127

    Content type: Study protocol

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  26. A substantial increase in rates of suicide worldwide, especially among late adolescents and young adults, has been observed. It is important to identify specific risk and protective factors for suicide-related...

    Authors: Bob Lew, Ksenia Chistopolskaya, Augustine Osman, Jenny Mei Yiu Huen, Mansor Abu Talib and Angel Nga Man Leung

    Citation: BMC Psychiatry 2020 20:73

    Content type: Research article

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  27. The Delphi technique is a proven and reliable method to create common definitions and to achieve convergence of opinion. This study aimed to prioritize suicide prevention guideline recommendations and to devel...

    Authors: Kim Setkowski, Anton J. L. M. van Balkom, Dave A. Dongelmans and Renske Gilissen

    Citation: BMC Psychiatry 2020 20:55

    Content type: Research article

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  28. Brief Contact Interventions (BCIs) after a suicide attempt (SA) are an important element of prevention against SA and suicide. They are easier to generalize to an entire population than other forms of interven...

    Authors: Larissa Fossi Djembi, Guillaume Vaiva, Christophe Debien, Stéphane Duhem, Anne-Laure Demarty, Yves-Akoli Koudou and Antoine Messiah

    Citation: BMC Psychiatry 2020 20:26

    Content type: Research article

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  30. Research is required to identify those psychiatric interventions with a protective effect against suicide. The overarching aim of the current study was to examine whether completed suicide in psychiatric patie...

    Authors: Fredrik Holländare, Maria Tillfors, Axel Nordenskjöld and Tabita Sellin

    Citation: BMC Psychiatry 2020 20:13

    Content type: Research article

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  31. It is generally known that firefighters are at increased risk of suicide. However, the prevalence and correlates of suicidal ideation in firefighters have not been thoroughly described to date. The aim of this...

    Authors: Heyeon Park, Johanna Inhyang Kim, Beomjun Min, Sohee Oh and Jeong-Hyun Kim

    Citation: BMC Psychiatry 2019 19:428

    Content type: Research article

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  32. Bullying and suicidal behaviors are a silent public health problem among adolescents. Little is known about the link between bullying and suicidal behaviors in low-income countries such as Tanzania. In the cur...

    Authors: Festo K. Shayo and Paul S. Lawala

    Citation: BMC Psychiatry 2019 19:400

    Content type: Research article

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  33. In the Netherlands, suicide rates showed a sharp incline and this pertains particularly to the province of Noord-Brabant, one of the southern provinces in the Netherlands. This calls for a regional suicide pre...

    Authors: Emma Hofstra, Iman Elfeddali, Margot Metz, Marjan Bakker, Jacobus J. de Jong, Chijs van Nieuwenhuizen and Christina M. van der Feltz-Cornelis

    Citation: BMC Psychiatry 2019 19:364

    Content type: Study protocol

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  34. Losing an only child is a particularly traumatic and heartbreaking event for parents, which can trigger a lot of emotional responses, including PTSD and suicidal ideation (SI). The objectives of this study wer...

    Authors: Qiong Wang, Longfei Ren, Wenhao Wang, Weihua Xu and Yang Wang

    Citation: BMC Psychiatry 2019 19:352

    Content type: Research article

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  35. Many suicide attempters brought to our emergency department (ED) have been found to have alcohol problems, and this should be taken serious consideration because alcohol use disorder is a risk factor for suici...

    Authors: Jinhee Lee, Seongho Min, Joung-Sook Ahn, Hyun Kim, Yong-Sung Cha, Eugene Oh, Jin Sil Moon and Min-Hyuk Kim

    Citation: BMC Psychiatry 2019 19:350

    Content type: Research article

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  36. Suicide and non-fatal self-harm represent key patient safety events in mental healthcare services. However, additional important learning can also be derived by highlighting examples of optimal practice that h...

    Authors: Donna L. Littlewood, Leah Quinlivan, Jane Graney, Louis Appleby, Pauline Turnbull, Roger T. Webb and Navneet Kapur

    Citation: BMC Psychiatry 2019 19:346

    Content type: Research article

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  37. Crisis hotlines play a key role in suicide prevention worldwide following different approaches regarding risk assessment and management of suicidality. This is to our knowledge the first study investigating de...

    Authors: Ines Heinz, Roland Mergl, Ulrich Hegerl, Christine Rummel-Kluge and Elisabeth Kohls

    Citation: BMC Psychiatry 2019 19:342

    Content type: Research article

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  38. Interoceptive deficits have been found to be associated with suicidal ideation and behavior. However, an objective measure of interoceptive accuracy has not been investigated in participants with suicide ideat...

    Authors: Thomas Forkmann, Eftychia Volz-Sidiropoulou, Trientje Helbing, Barbara Drüke, Verena Mainz, Dajana Rath, Siegfried Gauggel and Tobias Teismann

    Citation: BMC Psychiatry 2019 19:334

    Content type: Research article

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  39. Despite decades of research, the rate of death from suicide is rising in the United States. Suicide is a complex and multifactorial phenomenon and, to date, no validated biomarkers that predict suicidal behavi...

    Authors: Allison C. Nugent, Elizabeth D. Ballard, Lawrence T. Park and Carlos A. Zarate Jr

    Citation: BMC Psychiatry 2019 19:332

    Content type: Debate

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  40. Previous research suggests that family caregivers contemplate suicide at a higher rate than the general population. Much of this research has been disease specific and in relatively small samples. This study a...

    Authors: Karlijn J. Joling, Margreet ten Have, Ron de Graaf and Siobhan T. O’Dwyer

    Citation: BMC Psychiatry 2019 19:320

    Content type: Research article

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  41. Self-harm, an act of self-poisoning or self-injury irrespective of motivation, is a major public health concern. Use of alcohol prior to or alongside acts of self-harm is common but little is known about the a...

    Authors: Ambrose J. Melson and Rory C. O’Connor

    Citation: BMC Psychiatry 2019 19:319

    Content type: Research article

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  43. Opposing risks have been identified between different prosocial activities, with volunteering having been linked to better mental health while caregiving has been associated with higher prevalence and incidenc...

    Authors: Michael Rosato, Foteini Tseliou, David M. Wright, Aideen Maguire and Dermot O’Reilly

    Citation: BMC Psychiatry 2019 19:296

    Content type: Research article

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  44. The screening of digital footprint for clinical purposes relies on the capacity of wearable technologies to collect data and extract relevant information’s for patient management. Artificial intelligence (AI) ...

    Authors: Sofian Berrouiguet, María Luisa Barrigón, Jorge Lopez Castroman, Philippe Courtet, Antonio Artés-Rodríguez and Enrique Baca-García

    Citation: BMC Psychiatry 2019 19:277

    Content type: Study protocol

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  45. Suicide has profound effects on families and communities, but is a statistically rare event. Psychological autopsies using a case-control design allow researchers to examine risk factors for suicide, using a v...

    Authors: E. Arensman, C. Larkin, J. McCarthy, S. Leitao, P. Corcoran, E. Williamson, C. McAuliffe, I. J. Perry, E. Griffin, E. M. Cassidy, C. Bradley, N. Kapur, J. Kinahan, A. Cleary, T. Foster, J. Gallagher…

    Citation: BMC Psychiatry 2019 19:275

    Content type: Technical advance

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  46. Diabetes is a highly prevalent non-communicable disease which is prone to more psychiatric complications like suicide; however, research into this area is limited. Assessing suicidal plan and attempt as well a...

    Authors: Mogesie Necho, Solomon Mekonnen, Kelemua Haile, Mengesha Birkie and Asmare Belete

    Citation: BMC Psychiatry 2019 19:258

    Content type: Research article

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  47. Suicide is a serious public health concern. Depression is the main gateway to suicidal behavior. The already established relationship between depression and suicidal risk should now focus on the investigation ...

    Authors: Miquel Roca, Antonio Riera-López del Amo, Pau Riera-Serra, Mª. Angeles Pérez-Ara, Adoración Castro, J. Roman Juan, Mauro García-Toro, Patricia García-Pazo and Margalida Gili

    Citation: BMC Psychiatry 2019 19:253

    Content type: Study protocol

    Published on:

  48. Coercive measures is a topic that has long been discussed in the field of psychiatry. Despite global reports of reductions in the use of restraint episodes due to new regulations, it is still questionable if p...

    Authors: Maritta Välimäki, Min Yang, Tero Vahlberg, Tella Lantta, Virve Pekurinen, Minna Anttila and Sharon-Lise Normand

    Citation: BMC Psychiatry 2019 19:230

    Content type: Research article

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  50. Suicidal ideation is an important public health issue due to devastating mortality. In the meantime, interpersonal trust was found to be negatively associated with mental disorder and physical health. Although...

    Authors: Zihang Yu, Lingzhong Xu, Long Sun, Jiao Zhang, Wenzhe Qin, Jiajia Li, Gan Ding, Qian Wang, Jing Zhu and Su Xie

    Citation: BMC Psychiatry 2019 19:206

    Content type: Research article

    Published on:

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