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Online grief support groups can both help and harm participants. More than 50% of people in the US will grieve a loved one who died by suicide, and almost three quarters of them will look to internet support groups for help.But are online support groups beneficial or detrimental? Researchers at the New university of Colorado Boulder suggest it’s a bit of both. [More]

Suicide is one of the leading causes of death among persons aged 18 to 20 years in the U.S., and firearms are the leading mechanism of death for this age group. A new study published in the American Journal of Public Health looked at the impact of minimum handgun purchase age and background check legislation on young adult suicide in the United States between 1991 and 2020. [More]

A new study published in The Lancet looked at non-fatal suicide behaviours across phases in the COVID-19 pandemic in Spain. “Our study investigates the incidence of non-fatal suicide behaviors in Catalonia, Spain, before, during, and after the COVID-19 pandemic,” study author Dr. Victor Serrano-Gimeno told us. “We aimed to understand the patterns and fluctuations in suicide behaviors across different stages of the crisis.” [More]

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. [More]

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. [More]

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.” [More]

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. [More]

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%. [More]

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.” [More]

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.” [More]