Crisis Counselors Use Safety Planning to Prevent Suicide

Crisis hotlines are one of the oldest suicide prevention resources and are often the only intervention for many suicidal individuals given their unwillingness to seek treatment or the unavailability of treatment. Therefore, maximizing the clinical utility of hotline calls is imperative for suicide prevention efforts. Dr. Barbara Stanley used her AFSP Distinguished Investigator grant to do just that.

Barbara Stanley, PhD talks Safety Planning from AFSP on Vimeo.

The current study assessed the effectiveness of implementing a Safety Planning Intervention (SPI) into crisis calls. SPI is an evidence-based clinical intervention that can greatly reduce suicide risk. Read article here.

Suicide Risk Assessment in the VHA

The recent article in The Journal of Clinical Psychiatry “Suicide Risk Assessment Received Prior to Suicide Death by Veterans Health Administration Patients with a History of Depression” revealed several important findings. Among Veterans Health Administration (VHA) patients with a history of depression from 1999 to 2004, 74% of patients who died by suicide had received an assessment of suicidal ideation in the year prior to suicide,1 and this rate was achieved prior to the major initiatives that VHA has put in place over the last 7 years emphasizing suicide risk assessment and prevention. However, only 30% of patients with depression or a history of depression received such an assessment at a time that it might have been especially important—the last health care visit. Furthermore, of those assessed, 85% denied suicidal ideation when asked, and a similar proportion (>70%) denied suicidal ideation even when asked within 7 days of their impending suicide death. Read article here.

College Students Speak: A Survey Report on Mental Health

The National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) conducted a national survey of college students living with mental health conditions to learn about their experiences in school. NAMI designed the survey to hear directly from students about whether schools are meeting their needs and what improvements are needed to support their academic experience. Read article here.

Problems in School May Be a Sign of Depression

Academic decline, or problems in school, may be a sign of depression in some children. Of course, not all problems in school are linked to depression, and not all depressed children have significant problems in school, either.

How Does Depression Interfere With Academic Performance? Read article here.

Early Symptoms of Bipolar Disorder

Bipolar mania has many symptoms, like feeling high or excited. People may have symptoms of mania without having bipolar, and some symptoms may put them at risk for bipolar disorder. Read article here.

NFL Life Line: Confidential Support, Assistance, and Hope

If you are a member of the NFL family and are experiencing a personal or emotional crisis, you can talk to someone right now at (800) 506-0078. Trained, professional counselors are standing by 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. It’s free, confidential support for the entire NFL family—current and former players, coaches, team and league staff, and their family members. It’s independent. The NFL Life Line is operated by the leading national providers of crisis counseling services and is entirely independent of NFL staff.

No confidential information about individual calls or callers is shared with the NFL, its teams, or any other organization. Read more here.

Why Childhood Suffering Can Lead to Depression—And Even Addiction

It has long been established that childhood trauma increases a person’s risk for developing depression and addiction later in life. Now, a small study of teens from the University of Texas offers one possible explanation. The findings reveal that childhood suffering triggers a disruption in particular neural networks, which are linked to a greater chance of developing substance abuse problems, depression, or both in teens. Read article here.

Dogs: A Medicine for Mental Health Problems?

A growing number of Americans are getting dogs for mental health needs, experts say. In the case of psychiatric service animals, they are trained specifically to help people with mental illnesses. Read article here.

Six Celebs Speak Out About Mental Health

Their lives may be far from ordinary, but actors, musicians, athletes, and writers have emotional and mental health issues just like the rest of us.  When a celeb opens up about depression, anxiety, and mental disorders, it can have a major impact on the way people think about these issues. Read article here.

PE Coach App

If you are a Soldier, Sailor, Airman, or Marine or Veteran experiencing difficulties due to a traumatic experience (for example, combat, deployment experience, or sexual assault), the PE Coach mobile application (app) may be part of the solution.

The app will guide you through the exercises assigned by your therapist and allows you to track and record your progress in treatment. In addition, the app provides you with techniques such as controlled breathing that will help you tolerate and decrease your distress. PE Coach will help you remember and track your upcoming therapy sessions. You and your therapist will be able to audio record your sessions directly onto your phone so that you can review them later as part of your treatment. Read article here.