“Every life is touched by suicide”: Stanford psychiatrist on the importance of prevention

Scope (published by Stanford Medicine)

The journal Academic Psychiatry dedicated its October, 2014 issue to the topic of increasing suicide awareness and prevention in psychiatric education. Laura Roberts, editor-in-chief of the journal and chair of the Stanford psychiatry department, highlighted some of the articles in the collection: “In our special issue, a systematic review highlights the observation that psychiatry residents commonly experience the death of a patient by suicide, and three articles address coping with suicide professionally. Several articles focus on the development of educational programs that help strengthen suicide prevention, including screening skills and suicide awareness and management. Two articles address the resources and experience of the Department of Veterans Affairs.” Roberts noted many recent advances in the scientific understanding of suicide, from population-based patterns to the identification of helpful protective factors. “Such innovative work is very much needed,” she said, “because it will help us understand when a person with latent risk factors for suicide may act on this impulse, or, alternatively, how we can better support and intervene.”

Spark Extra! Read the National Action Alliance for Suicide Prevention’s newly released guidelines for training health and human services professionals in optimal suicide care.