October 31, 2023
by Elizabeth Pratt
People who bought firearms at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic have higher rates of mental health problems and political extremism.
Research published in PLOS One found those who bought firearms during the pandemic had higher rates of self harm, suicidal thoughts and intimate partner violence when compared with those who don’t own firearms or other firearms owners who bought firearms outside the height of the pandemic.
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May 31, 2023
by Elizabeth Pratt
For hundreds of years, some have suggested a full moon may cause people to act differently.
Now, psychiatrists at the Indiana University School of Medicine have found that death by suicide increases during the full moon.
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May 22, 2023
by Elizabeth Pratt
People who frequently watch YouTube have elevated levels of depression, anxiety and loneliness.
Researchers from the Australian Institute for Suicide Research and Prevention found that the most widely used streaming platform had both positive and negative impacts on the mental health of users.
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May 2, 2023
by Patricia Tomasi
A new study published in the Journal of Affective Disorders looked at the effect of exercise on suicidal ideation and behaviors. “Our study aimed to investigate the effect of exercise on suicidal behaviors (suicidal ideation, suicide attempts, and suicide deaths) in those with mental or physical illness,” study author Dr. Nicholas Fabiano told us. “Our secondary objective was to determine if those with mental or physical illness were able to adhere to exercise regimes as people with comorbidities are often perceived not to be adherent to exercise regimes due to the nature of their illness.”
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April 30, 2023
by Elizabeth Pratt
Teenage girls are experiencing record high levels of persistent sadness.
A report from the CDC found that 57% of teenage girls in the US felt hopeless or persistently sad in 2021, that’s a 60% increase over the past ten years.
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March 31, 2023
by Elizabeth Pratt
The number of children and adolescents visiting the emergency department for attempted suicide and suicide ideation rose sharply during the pandemic.
Research publish in The Lancet Psychiatry found that while pediatric emergency department visits decreased overall during the pandemic, suicide related visits among youth rose by 22%.
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January 3, 2023
by Patricia Tomasi
A new study published in JAMA Pediatrics looked at the association of youth suicides and county-level mental health professional shortage areas in the United States. “We found that two-thirds of U.S. counties have significant shortages of mental health professionals,” study author Jennifer A. Hoffman told us. “Youth who live in counties with shortages of mental health professionals are more likely to die by suicide.”
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November 15, 2022
by Patricia Tomasi
A new study published in Health Services Research looked at the effect of mental health staffing on suicide-related events. “We wanted to answer a seemingly simple question: does increasing mental health staffing at Veterans Health Administration (VHA) facilities reduce suicide-related events?” study author Yevgeniy Feyman told us. “While this seems straightforward on its face, the existing evidence is mixed. Some work has found that staffing reduces suicide related events, while others have found no effect.”
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October 18, 2022
by Patricia Tomasi
A new study published in the Journal of Psychiatric Research looked at the performance of machine learning models in predicting suicidal ideation, attempts, and deaths. “My study sought to quantify the ability of existing machine learning models to predict future suicide-related events,” study author Karen Kusuma told us. “While there are other research studies examining a similar question, my study is the first to use clinically relevant and statistically appropriate performance measures for the machine learning studies.”
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June 29, 2022
by Elizabeth Pratt
Fewer high school students attempt suicide in states that have enacted hate crime laws that protect LGBT+ people.
Researchers from the University of Indianapolis and The Ohio State University found that the reduction in suicide rates didn’t only occur among sexual and gender minority students, but also among heterosexual students.
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