By Allison E. Bond. What do we know about firearms and suicide? In the United States (US), firearms are the most commonly used and most lethal method for suicide1.Additionally, suicides account for two-thirds of all gun deaths in the US1. The presence of firearms in the home is associated with a 3-5x increase in the… Continue reading Firearms and suicide: What we know, what we can do, and steps forward
By Austin J. Gallyer. Last year for World Suicide Prevention Day, I wrote about how we have little evidence — for or against—differences in the functioning of the brains of those who experience suicidality. The reason for this was that existing studies that used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and/or electroencephalography (EEG) were severely underpowered… Continue reading Can We Use EEG to Find Brain Differences in Those Experiencing Suicidality?
By Rosie Pendrous. A review of 94 papers published between 2000 and 2018 estimated that approximately 8.4% of women and 2.2% of men experienced an eating disorder (ED) – including anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, binge eating disorder, and other specified feeding, and binge eating disorder – in their lifetime[1]. Global statistics also suggested that the… Continue reading Eating disorders and suicide: What does the research say?
By Holly Crudgington. What do you think of when you hear the word ‘school’? The word might have many connotations, depending on who you ask. Context matters. Personally, it brings back some fond and some difficult memories of being a teenager at a public secondary school in the UK. It’s been over 10 years since… Continue reading “I get by with a little help from my friends”: Adolescent peer friendship networks and self-harm
By Kenvil Souza. There are so many memories I have from my childhood. When I think back, I remember the pet chicken that I called “beauty” when I was in primary school. My mother let me keep her in spite of us living in a tiny flat. She would stay on the balcony, and I’d… Continue reading “There are two sides to my childhood”: Positive childhood experiences in the face of adversity
By Faraz Mughal. We all know how serious self-harm is, and self-harm in young people is no different. Recent findings using electronic general practice patient records showed an increase in self-harm recorded in general practice in young people, particularly in girls aged 13-16.[1] In terms of healthcare utilisation: in the National Health Service young people… Continue reading Young people’s experiences of general practice for self-harm
By Joeri Vandewalle. There is growing recognition that family involvement is important in the care and treatment of people with suicidal ideations. Family members can provide valuable information about their relatives [1], engage in safety planning [2], and offer support to reduce their relatives’ loneliness [3]. Moreover, family members can support continuity of care by… Continue reading Stories from the side-lines: family members’ expectations of care and treatment for their relatives with suicidal ideations
By Valerie J. Douglas. It is not a secret that I love animals. I’ve been teased by colleagues and friends for having a small petting zoo in my apartment- a bird, a dog, and a cat somehow living (relatively) harmoniously. These critters bring great joy to my life, even when they won’t stop screeching when… Continue reading Are fluffy and fido keys to suicide prevention? The role of pets
By Grace Cully. “Because the support I had from the members of the crisis team … I had promised them that if I did feel … that I’m getting down, or I would do something … then I promised I would call somebody. Which I did the same day.” [1] Over the course of my… Continue reading The need for timely, comprehensive and compassionate care: Experiences of aftercare following high-risk self-harm
By Hazel Marzetti. As suicide researchers we inevitably think about suicide (virtually) every day. We spend our time reading, writing and thinking about the saddest and darkest times in other people’s, and sometimes our own, lives. We want to understand these experiences, we want to improve these difficult times, and we want to enhance the… Continue reading Please put your own mask on first, before helping others: Taking care of suicide researcher’s mental health and wellbeing
By Meryem Betul Yasdiman. When we are no longer able to change a situation, we are challenged to change ourselves.Victor Frankl People face challenging, sometimes life-changing, experiences throughout their life. These experiences can include losing a loved one, problems at work, a severe illness, natural disasters, or other situations that bring negative emotions. Such stressful… Continue reading Finding benefits after adversity: Post-traumatic growth and its association with suicidal thoughts
By Kerry Hozhabrafkan. I have a vivid memory of being at university during my midwifery training, listening to the lecturer describe a case study which had been chosen to support our learning. It was the tragic story of a woman who had recently become a mother for the first time and became rapidly unwell. The… Continue reading Including women and healthcare professionals in conversations about perinatal suicide
By Katherine Bird. Self-harm (any self-injury or -poisoning regardless of intent) is a significant public-health concern, affecting between 18.8% and 50% of young people under 25-years [1; 2]. The concern relates to the physical harm, emotional distress, and reduced mental health and wellbeing self-harm causes. Most concerningly, self-harm is the most significant predictor of death… Continue reading Examining the pathway to self-harm in high-risk youth using a novel Card Sort Task for Self-Harm (CaTS): It’s time to change how self-harm is assessed
By Hilary Causer. In this post I will share with you how my research into the impact of student suicide on staff in United Kingdom (UK) Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) has led me to consider an expansion to the concept of ‘perceptions of closeness’ [1]. Further, I explore how contextual factors may nurture such perceptions,… Continue reading Postvention: Perceptions of closeness, constructions, and contexts
By Bethany Cliffe. It is well-documented that mental health difficulties are highly prevalent among university students, with self-harm in particular being twice as common in this group than in the general population [1]. The transition to university often involves moving to a new environment and leaving support networks behind, with uncertainties around how and where… Continue reading Why smartphone apps can be useful for students who self-harm
Institution: Hunter New England Local Health District, University of Newcastle, Australia. Supervisory team: Prof Greg Carter, Prof Frances KayLambkin, and A/Prof Jo Robinson. Position: PhD candidate; Suicide Prevention Research Lead, Hunter New England Local Health District. Current research: My work is about improving suicide prevention ‘in the real world’ including how we can better translate… Continue reading Katie McGill
Daniël Lakens is an Associate Professor in the Human-Technology interaction group at Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e). His areas of expertise include meta-science, research methods and applied statistics. Daniël’s main lines of empirical research focus on conceptual thought, similarity, and meaning. He also focuses on how to design and interpret studies, applied (meta)-statistics, and reward structures in science. A large part of his work deals with developing methods for critically reviewing and optimally structuring studies. In this exclusive interview to netECR, Lakens provides very important insights on science, ethics, and academic career.
Institution: National Suicide Research Foundation and University College Cork (School of Public Health), Ireland. Supervisory team: Professor Ella Arensman and Dr Eve Griffin. Position: Postdoctoral Researcher. Current research: I am interested in the epidemiology of self-harm and healthcare service provision for persons with a history of self-harm and other mental health difficulties. I am currently… Continue reading Grace Cully
Institution: University of Strathclyde, Scotland. Supervisory team: Dr Susan Rasmussen. Position: PhD student. Current research: I am interested in the mechanisms by which childhood experiences can influence suicide risk. I am looking at emotional processing as a potential mediator in this relationship. Research interests: Adverse and positive childhood experiences and suicide risk The role of… Continue reading Kenvil Souza
Institution: University of Manchester, England. Supervisory team: Professor Nusrat Husain, Dr. Maria Panagioti, Dr. Sally Giles. Position: PhD student. Current research: My research is on developing culturally adapted psychological interventions targeting self-harm and suicide prevention for British South Asians. Research interests: Self-harm and suicide prevention The mental health of BAME (Black, Asian and minority ethnic)… Continue reading Busra Ozen Dursun
