People in contact with mental health services with suicidal thoughts and/or behaviours who use the internet; an online survey.

By Lana Bojanic

Lana Bojanić (@BojanicLana) is a research assistant and a PhD candidate at the National Confidential Inquiry into Suicide and Safety in Mental Health (NCISH).

Suicide-related internet use (SRIU) can be broadly defined as any internet use connected to individuals’ feelings of suicidality [1]. Current research pointed out the duality of SRIU; namely, its potential to be both a risk and a protective factor [2]. Even though a rapidly growing sub-field, research that investigates SRIU mostly focuses on young people, even though the evidence exists that SRIU is present in all age groups [3]. Another group in which SRIU is under-researched are people in contact with mental health services. With mental health patients being in close proximity to care, mental illness being a known risk for suicide, and evidence existing that mental health patients use the internet in the same proportion and frequency as the general population, it is important to investigate characteristics of SRIU in this population. Therefore, the experiences of people in contact with mental health services are necessary to obtain an accurate picture of their clinical and internet environments.

In order to address this gap and as a part of my doctoral research under the supervision of Dr Isabelle Hunt, I am conducting a study on suicide-related internet use of people with suicidal thoughts/behaviours in the UK. This study aims to recruit people, 18 years old and above, in contact with mental health services to share their experiences with suicidality, and the internet, and provide insight into how the two interact and create potential risks and benefits. 

If you are eligible please consider sharing your experiences in this survey via this link. Participation is entirely voluntary and anonymous and takes approximately 15 minutes. It would be of great help if you would share this through your network, for example on social media or a newsletter. Alternatively, you can retweet the pinned tweet from my profile @BojanicLana.

Thank you for your help,

Kind regards,

Lana

References:

Bojanić, L. Turnbull, P., Ibrahim, S., Flynn, S., Kapur, N., Appleby, L. & Hunt, I.M. Suicide-related internet use among mental health patients who died by suicide in the UK: a national clinical survey. [unpublished manuscript]

Durkee, T., Hadlaczky, G., Westerlund, M., & Carli, V. (2011). Internet Pathways in Suicidality: A Review of the Evidence. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 8(10), 3938–3952. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph8103938

Mok, K., Jorm, A. F., & Pirkis, J. (2015). Suicide-related Internet use: A review. Australian & New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry, 49(8), 697–705. https://doi.org/10.1177/0004867415569797

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