Indigenous mental health: an interview with Prof. Ernest Hunter...

In this Rural Health Education Foundation (RHEF) podcast Prof. Hunter discusses the links between self-harm, violence, suicide and the Indigenous community's general welfare. For more information go to RHEF webpage

SUICIDE & LIFE-THREATENING BEHAVIOR

Issue 36, Number 2, April 2006

Issue includes:

• Integratively assessing risk and protective factors for adolescent suicide
• Negative bodily self in suicide attempters
• Parents' and teachers' concordance with children's self-ratings of suicidality: findings from a high-risk sample
• Strengthening the validity of population-based suicide rate comparisons: an illustration using U.S. military and civilian data
• Epidemiology of nonfatal deliberate self-harm in the United States as described in three medical databases
• Psychiatric hospitalisation after deliberate self-poisoning
• Suicide risk at juvenile justice intake

Blueprint for Maintaining the Mental Health and Wellbeing of the People on NSW Farms

NSW Farmers Association brought together a group of key stakeholders in the area of rural mental health, to discuss how best to work together to address rural and remote mental health issues. This forum, held in June 2005, resulted in the creation of a formal Rural Mental Health Network and a NSW Farmers Blueprint for Maintaining the Mental Health and Wellbeing of the People on NSW Farms.

Silent distress goes unheard: Farmers' organisations are worried at the continued toll of suicide in rural areas.

Article in: The Australian, May 13, 2006

"According to Australian Bureau of Statistics figures, 12 in every 100,000 people living in a capital city committed suicide between 1988 and 1998. However, in rural areas up to 17 people in every 100,000 committed suicide.

About 18 months ago the NSW Farmers Association, along with 19 health, financial assistance and social welfare groups, formed the Rural Mental Health Network to find a solution to what it describes as a devastating crisis crippling many rural communities.

After assessing feedback from the group's work during the past year, the network last week released a plan outlining 23 areas of action to deal with the lack of mental health services in rural and regional areas. "

$40m cost rules out safety upgrades for jail cells

Article in: The Advertiser, 12 May 2006, pg 24

"A CALL to upgrade all prison cells in SA to make them safe and prevent prisoner suicides has been rejected by the State Government as too costly. In a report to Parliament into the death in custody of a man at the Adelaide Remand Centre in 2003, the Correctional Services Department says it would cost more than $40 million. ...The report says the Government is satisfied other targeted initiatives to reduce deaths in custody are the best way to address the issue."

Effect of month of birth on the risk of suicide

Article in: The British Journal of Psychiatry, (2006) 188: 416-422

Aims: To examine the association between suicide and month of birth using suicide data for a 22-year period in England and Wales. The sample size of 26 915 suicides greatly exceeds all previous studies.

Results: Birth rates of people who later kill themselves show disproportionate excess for April, May and June compared with the other months. Overall, we found an increase of 17% in the risk of suicide for people born in the peak month (spring–early summer) compared with those born in the trough month (autumn–early winter); this risk increase was larger for women (29.6%) than for men (13.7%).

Break-ups can spark self harm

Article in: Hobart Mercury, 6 May 2006, page 13

Professor John Macdonald said many men who committed suicide had no history of mental illness or depression...."It's time social factors, like family breakdown and unemployment, are considered alongside the need to improve mental health resources." "A purely medical response to suicide prevention hasn't been enough to reverse the horrific statistics.
Prof Macdonald was a key speaker at a suicide prevention forum in Sydney this week

Gap in care for young raises risk of self-harm

Article in: The West Australian, 6 May 2006

"Services for vulnerable young people who harm themselves or attempt suicide are still lacking in WA....The Public Administration committee, part of the Legislative Council, is checking on the progress of recommendations made in the Auditor-General's 2001 and 2005 reports into the management of self-harm in young people. "

Recently Published

Suicide in older people without psychiatric disorder
Article in: INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF GERIATRIC PSYCHIATRY, Vol 21 (4): 363-367, APR 2006

Coping and Complicated Grief in Survivors of Homicide and Suicide Decedents

Article in: Journal of Forensic Nursing, 2006;2(1):25-32

This article summarizes a comprehensive literature review and explores research of coping strategies used by survivors of homicide and suicide decedents. The relationship of these survivors' coping strategies to the development of complicated grief is also examined....There may be more that first-responders (law enforcement, paramedics, and medical examiner/coroner's office personnel) can do to decrease the development of complicated grief if they use interventions designed to help the survivors at the scene.

Volunteers step in on suicide watch

Article in: The Sydney Morning Herald, 3 May 2006, page 2

"Years of government inaction and a suicide rate twice the national average has forced rural groups and the NSW Farmers Association to step in to ease the mental health crisis gripping regional areas. As the drought enters its fifth year, farmers, their families, schools, businesses and non-government groups are struggling to cope.

"It is critically important we don't let people fall through the gaps, because the people who fall through the gaps end up being statistics," said Jock Laurie, a spokesman for the newly formed Rural Mental Health Network and president of the NSW Farmers Association. The Farmers Association, along with 18 other organisations - including the Rural Doctors Association, the Country Women's Association, Wesley Counselling and the St Vincent de Paul Society - met yesterday to launch the network's Mental Health Blueprint.

The blueprint includes 22 areas of action, such as mental health first-aid training, farm support, access to financial counsellors and drought support workers, and improved drug and alcohol programs. "

POSITION VACANT

Mental Health Program Manager

The Adelaide Central & Eastern Division of General Practice (ACEDGP) is an inner-eastern metropolitan organisation supporting its 370 GP members to provide improved services to the community. The ACE Division has an exciting opportunity for an experienced program manager/coordinator to manage our Mental Health Program.
The MHPM leads, co-ordinates and manages the Division's mental health care activities centered on three specific initiatives:
1. The Better Outcomes in Mental Health - GPs Accessing Allied Health;
2. The Statewide Mental Health Shared Care and
3. The National Suicide Prevention Strategy.

This position is full-time, reports directly the CEO and is based at our Glenside offices. In order to secure the best candidate (subject to experience and qualifications) we are offering a very attractive salary package. Applicants with program management/coordination skills together with knowledge of the mental health system are encouraged to apply. Experience directly or indirectly within a Division environment highly desired. For more information please call Deb Dutton on 0434 275 543.

Advertised on Seek.com

Male suicides linked to 'tough' attitude

Article in: The Australian, May 02, 2006

"Australian men tried to "tough out" their problems rather than seek help, a leading suicide expert said today.
Suicide Prevention Australia chairman Michael Dudley said many men were stuck on outdated values and kept emotional issues to themselves...."They have a stoic kind of attitude and tend to think of emotional problems as some kind of moral problem or a character failing," Dr Dudley told the inaugural National Forum on Men and Suicide in Sydney."

Bid to stamp out male suicide by 2030

Article in: The Australian, May 03, 2006

"A national suicide forum has ended in Sydney today with a bold plan to stamp out male suicide by 2030.
Research shows that every day five men take their life in Australia....The inaugural National Forum on Men and Suicide wrapped up with a commitment to tackle the tragedy of male suicide."

Sleep and Youth Suicidal Behavior: A Neglected Field

Article from: Current Opinion in Psychiatry. 2006;19(3):288-293.

"This review focuses on recent literature on the relationship between sleep and suicidal behavior and proposes directions for future research.
Recent Findings: ....Epidemiological studies have demonstrated that insomnia, nightmares, and sleep insufficiency are associated with elevated risk for suicide. Although the link between insomnia and suicidal behavior appears to be mediated by depression, existing data suggest an independent predictive role of nightmares in future suicidal behavior....
Summary: Sleep loss or disturbances are likely to signal an increased risk of future suicidal action in adolescents"

POSITION VACANT

SUICIDE PREVENTION STRATEGY OFFICER

Responsible for developing, promoting, monitoring and evaluating policy and strategies for suicide prevention in Tasmania. This will include particular emphasis on promotion and prevention policies and strategies. $58,562-$61-911 per annum. Position based in Hobart
Contact: Mark Frohmader on (03) 6233 2283 or email mark.frohmader@dhhs.tas.gov.au
Vacancy No: 512197

For position and application information ? visit www.jobs.tas.gov.au or email dhhs.pd@dhhs.tas.gov.au. Forward your application by Wednesday 3 May 2006 to: The Recruitment Unit, GPO Box 125, Hobart, Tasmania, 7001 or by email to dhhs.recruitment@dhhs.tas.gov.au

Advertised on the CareerOne website

SPEAKERS: WORLD SUICIDE PREVENTION DAY

9TH September, Brisbane

The Australian Institute for Suicide Research and Prevention (AISRAP), and CAPS (Community Action for the Prevention of Suicide Inc) are looking for speakers with experience in suicide prevention to present at their World Suicide Prevention Day (WSPD) All-day Educational Forum on the 9th September (a Saturday) this year.

The official World Suicide Prevention Day is actually the 10th September, they believe that the All Day Forum will best attract delegates on the Saturday, and will be holding a fund-raising concert and other activities on the Sunday 10th. Brisbane City Hall will be the venue for this Forum. All speakers will have flights and accommodation and dinner paid for. They have yet to clarify the precise times, topics, and proceedings for this ALL DAY FORUM.

Whilst specific themes have not been finalised, overall themes include: suicide prevention and community stigma/awareness, or any high risk group topics within the field of suicide prevention . Our target is the community (general public) as well as workers in the field. Could you please contact Jacinta ASAP on your availability and willingness to accept this invitation? For your information - The CAPS website - http://www.caps.org.au/ provides information on CAPS, as well as last years topics/presenters and forum proceedings for WSPD.
Please contact: Jacinta Hawgood
Lecturer
Australian Institute for Suicide Research and Prevention (AISRAP) andWHO Collaborating Centre for Research and Training in Suicide Prevention
Mt Gravatt Campus, Griffith University
NATHAN QLD 4111
Ph: 07 3875 3394Fax: 07 3875 3450
Email: Jacinta.Hawgood@griffith.edu.auwww.griffith.edu.au/aisrap

Senate Select Committee on Mental Health: Report Released

A national approach to mental health - from crisis to community
First report

This inquiry by the Select Committee on Mental Health has been a unique opportunity to meet with people in the mental health sector, be they consumers, carers, health professionals or administrators. The committee has now produced it's first report: http://www.aph.gov.au/senate/committee/mentalhealth_ctte/report/index.htm

Excerpt
17.8 The committee recommends that the Australian Health Ministers agree to (among many other recommendations):

• Integrate the NMHS, National Drug Strategy, National Suicide Prevention Strategy and the National Alcohol Strategy and the delivery of services under these strategies.
• report on measurable targets such as suicide rates, homelessness, use of involuntary treatment orders, medication rates for high prevalence disorders, incarceration rates, and rates of engagement in education and the workforce.

POSTDOCTORAL FELLOWSHIPS IN SUICIDE PREVENTION RESEARCH post doc training.
UNIVERSITY OF ROCHESTER MEDICAL CENTER (URMC)
DEPARTMENT OF PSYCHIATRY FELLOWSHIPS
POSTDOCTORAL FELLOWSHIPS IN SUICIDE PREVENTION RESEARCH

The URMC Department of Psychiatry Center for the Study and Prevention of Suicide (CSPS) seeks applicants for research training fellowships in suicide prevention across the life span. Suicide and attempted suicide are major public health problems, as recognized by the U.S. Surgeon General and the U.S. Congress. Currently there are few researchers who devote their efforts to investigating risk factors associated with suicidal behavior; to developing new approaches for preventing suicide or attempted suicide; to developing and testing clinical interventions with higher risk clinical or community populations; or to evaluating ongoing efforts to reduce the mortality and morbidity associated with suicide and attempted suicide, and their antecedents. The Department has sponsored and supported research training for two decades, and its mentoring and research support infrastructure has successfully fostered the careers of many NIH-funded investigators. This fellowship, supported by a National Research Service Award grant from NIMH, is designed for individuals aspiring to academic research careers. Positions are available for up to three years. Core areas of skill development include: psychopathology and psychosocial research across the lifespan, research design and methods, biostatistics, grant writing and writing for publication, and the ethics of research. The Department is a vibrant, multidisciplinary research environment that vigorously supports academic development. Trainees with backgrounds in psychiatry or other relevant medical specialties, nursing. psychology, social work,, or public health are encouraged to apply by submitting a c.v. and statement of career goals and interests, and arranging to have three letters of recommendation forwarded to Dr. Yeates Conwell. Members of under-represented minority groups are strongly encouraged to apply.
A/A, EOE, M/F Deadline: 19 May 2006

Contact Information: Yeates Conwell, MD Department of Psychiatry, University of Rochester Medical Center 300 Crittenden Blvd., Rochester, NY 14642-8409 Yeates_Conwell@urmc.rochester.edu
(P) 585-275-6739
(F) 585-273-1066

RECENTLY PUBLISHED ARTICLES

Suicide behaviour over 18 months in recent onset schizophrenic patients: The effects of CBT
In: SCHIZOPHRENIA RESEARCH, Vol. 83 (1): 15-27, MAR 2006

Parent-child relationships as systems of support or risk for adolescent suicidality
In: JOURNAL OF FAMILY PSYCHOLOGY, Vol. 20 (1): 143-155, MAR 2006

The psychological health of sole mothers in Australia
In: MEDICAL JOURNAL OF AUSTRALIA, Vol. 184 (6): 265-268, MAR 20 2006
Conclusions: Economic status partly accounts for the relatively poorer psychological health of sole mothers. Sole mothers are more likely than other women to experience debilitating psychological health problems.

A pilot study on differences in aggression in New York City and Madrid, Spain, and their possible impact on suicidal behavior
In: JOURNAL OF CLINICAL PSYCHIATRY, Vol. 67 (3): 375-380, MAR 2006

Relationship between antidepressant sales and secular trends in suicide rates in the Nordic countries
In: BRITISH JOURNAL OF PSYCHIATRY, Vol. 188: 354-358, APR 2006

The impact of fathers' physical and psychosocial work conditions on attempted and completed suicide among their children - art. no. 77
In: BMC PUBLIC HEALTH, Vol. 6: 77-77, MAR 27 2006

Alcohol consumption, alcoholics anonymous membership, and suicide mortality rates, Ontario, 1968-1991
In: JOURNAL OF STUDIES ON ALCOHOL, Vol. 67 (3): 445-453, MAY 2006

Adolescent mental health literacy: Young people's knowledge of depression and help seeking
In: JOURNAL OF ADOLESCENCE, Vol. 29 (2): 225-239, APR 2006

Mortality in relation to employment status during different levels of unemployment
In: SCANDINAVIAN JOURNAL OF PUBLIC HEALTH, Vol. 34 (2): 159-167, APR 2006

Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors in pediatric depression: Is the balance between benefits and risks favorable?
In: JOURNAL OF CHILD AND ADOLESCENT PSYCHOPHARMACOLOGY, Vol. 16 (1-2): 11-24, FEB-APR 2006

Suicidal adverse events in pediatric randomized, controlled clinical trials of antidepressant drugs are associated with active drug treatment: A meta-analysis
In: JOURNAL OF CHILD AND ADOLESCENT PSYCHOPHARMACOLOGY, Vol. 16 (1-2): 25-32, FEB-APR 2006
Conclusions: In short-term, placebo-controlled, pediatric studies of antidepressants, active drug treatment was associated with a rate of serious suicidal events almost twice that of placebo.

An international, multicenter, placebo-controlled trial of paroxetine in adolescents with major depressive disorder
In: JOURNAL OF CHILD AND ADOLESCENT PSYCHOPHARMACOLOGY, Vol. 16 (1-2): 59-75, FEB-APR 2006

Evaluation of suicidal thoughts and behaviors in children and adolescents taking paroxetine
In: JOURNAL OF CHILD AND ADOLESCENT PSYCHOPHARMACOLOGY, Vol. 16 (1-2): 77-90, FEB-APR 2006

Treatment benefit and the risk of suicidality in multicenter, randomized, controlled trials of sertraline in children and adolescents
In: JOURNAL OF CHILD AND ADOLESCENT PSYCHOPHARMACOLOGY, Vol. 16 (1-2): 91-102, FEB-APR 2006

Antidepressant side effects in children and adolescents
In: JOURNAL OF CHILD AND ADOLESCENT PSYCHOPHARMACOLOGY, Vol. 16 (1-2): 147-157, FEB-APR 2006

Managing depression and suicide risk in men presenting to primary care physicians
In: PRIMARY CARE, Vol. 33 (1): 211+ , MAR 2006

Suicide rates in short-term randomized controlled trials of newer antidepressants
In: JOURNAL OF CLINICAL PSYCHOPHARMACOLOGY, Vol. 26 (2): 203-207, APR 2006

Suicides in WA worse than the road toll

Article in: The West Australian, 13 April 2006, page 39

Deputy Coroner Evelyn Vicker is highlighting the State's frightening suicide toll, why families hide the shame of suicide and what can be done to prevent further tragedies. Roy Gibson reports. Deputy State Coroner Evelyn Vicker has turned the spotlight on the suicide problem in WA in the hope that lives can be saved and faults in the mental health service rectified.
Ms Vicker is part-way through a series of inquests designed to expose the reality and the terrible tragedy of suicides - and Coroner's Court staff had no trouble selecting five cases at random from the sad statistics which are collated in the office...."The five inquests are not meant to be a witch-hunt against individual nurses or doctors or the facilities. The people who have committed suicide can't be brought back but hopefully we can highlight the flaws and the faults and ensure it does not happen to anyone else." ...The latest statistics show that suicides in WA are running at an average of five a week.

RECENTLY PUBLISHED ARTICLES

Subsequent suicide mortality among emergency department patients seen for suicidal behavior
In: ACADEMIC EMERGENCY MEDICINE, Vol. 13, No.4, pages 435-44, 2 APR 2006
Among the 218,304 patients, the average follow-up was 6.0 years; there were 408 suicide deaths.
Conclusions: The suicide rate among these ED patients is higher than population-based estimates. Rates among patients with suicidal ideation, overdose, or self-harm are especially high, supporting policies that mandate psychiatric interventions in all cases.

Increased Plasma Nitric Oxide Metabolites in Suicide Attempters
In: NEUROPSYCHOBIOLOGY eFIRST, date: 6 APR 2006

Hunter Institue for Mental Health (HIMH) - New Contract

Suicide Risk Reduction in Discharged Patients

The Hunter Institute for Mental Health located in Newcastle, NSW has been contracted by the Australian Government, Department of Health and Ageing to investigate models of suicide risk reduction for people who have recently been discharged from inpatient mental health facilities.

By way of background, the National Advisory Council for Suicide Prevention (NACSP) has identified this work as a priority given the evidence that those individuals who are discharged from mental health in-patient services have an elevated risk of suicide attempt and completed suicide for up to 12 months following discharge.

In addition to undertaking a literature review, the Institute will also draw conclusions from the formal policies and guidelines that are published by government and professional bodies within Australia and from overseas. We are also particularly interested to find out about any service models that may be being trialled and implemented by mental health services (government or non-government) to reduce the risk of suicide in this target group.

We would like to interview service providers who have contact with people around this transition point, and who are implementing particular models of service provision to reduce the risk of suicide attempts. We are also interested in talking to anyone undertaking research on efforts to reduce suicide in this group.

Please contact Trevor Hazell at : trevor.hazell@hnehealth.nsw.gov.au

Depression's toll 'exaggerated'
Article in: The Australian, April 11, 2006

Depression is nothing like as serious as often claimed and drug companies are helping to exaggerate the scale of the problem to protect a market worth nearly $300million a year. Although depression is common, many assertions doctors and experts make about the illness are "very questionable" and some - such as the claim that 15 per cent of depressed patients go on to commit suicide - keep resurfacing despite having been previously discredited....But Melissa Raven, a lecturer in public health at Flinders University, will tell a conference today there is "too much scaremongering" about depression....

An American paper published in 1970 had suggested that 15 per cent of depressed patients went on to commit suicide but Ms Raven said the findings were based on a subset of people with depression so severe they had been hospitalised, or attempted suicide previously. The findings had since been challenged by many other studies. "The actual suicide rate (among the depressed) is vastly lower than 15 per cent, and yet that study is still being quoted."

Suicide Shame: self-inflicted death claims more lives than road toll

Article in: The Sunday Times, April 9 2006, page 4

"Suicide has overtaken the road toll as one of the biggest killers in WA. Yet the State Government spends a pittance on services to stop West Australians from taking their lives.... the government spends more than $180 million a year to cut the road toll, it forks out less than $5 million a year on dedicated suicide-prevention strategies.... Ministerial Council for Suicide Prevention head, Sven Silburn and Health Department Acting Mental Health Section Director, Peter Wynn Owen said more funds were needed for suicide prevention. Prof Silburn said the $225,000 a year his taskforce received from the Government was a pittance...."

Light on the hill fails to shine
Comment on the $1.8 billion mental health package

Article in: The Sydney Morning Herald, 8 April 2006, pg 31

"The $1.8 billion mental health package was trumpeted as a godsend.... The chairman of Suicide Prevention Australia, Michael Duffy, says that while the package announced by Howard has some "wonderful elements", neither he nor his colleagues are confident vital details have been worked through.
"Clearly, it is going to be contingent on co-ordination at three levels - state-commonwealth, public-private, and at an interdisciplinary level. We see this in suicide all the time - people end up dead because people and services and practitioners do not communicate with each other."
Duffy is resigned to the difficulties of attracting more people into the mental health field. "It is seen as a dog's-end job. It has been run down so much for so long - there is a revolving door at the acute end and increasing levels of serious illness in the community because of it...."

Opportunity to save lives has been lost

Article in: The New Zealand Herald, 8 April 2006

"A country burdened by one of the world's most appalling youth suicide rates is in no position to let a chance to make a difference go begging. Yet that is what a parliamentary select committee did this week when it rejected a call to lift restrictions on the reporting of suicide. The veil of secrecy imposed by the Coroners Act will remain, even though the number of self-inflicted deaths confirms it is not working...."

Hope for mental health funds to help cut suicide rate

From: ABC News Online, Thursday, April 6, 2006

"Country doctors hope a major funding boost for mental health will lead to a significant fall in Western Australia's suicide rate. The Federal Government has pledged $1.8 billion to improve mental health funding over the next five years. The package includes increased access to psychiatrists and psychologists under Medicare, funding for mental health nurses to work with GPs, and improved mental health services in rural and remote areas...."

RECENTLY PUBLISHED ARTICLES

Where did the bodies go? The social construction of suicide data, New York City, 1976-1992
In: SOCIOLOGICAL INQUIRY, Vol. 76 (2): 166-187, MAY 2006
In New York City during a major political and economic downturn, the Chief Medical Examiner's Office "engaged in defensive structuring .... suicides were "hidden" in reported deaths attributable to non-motor-vehicle accidents and, to a lesser extent, undeter-mined external causes."

Predictors of A&E staff attitudes to self-harm patients who use self-laceration: Influence of previous training and experience
In: JOURNAL OF PSYCHOSOMATIC RESEARCH, Vol. 60 (3): 273-277, MAR 2006
"Conclusions: This study highlights the need for greater staff training in A&E. Despite considerable experience in the field, we found evidence for unhelpful attitudes amongst some staff."

Social and economic burden of suicides in Hong Kong SAR - A year of life lost perspective
In: CRISIS-THE JOURNAL OF CRISIS INTERVENTION AND SUICIDE PREVENTION, Vol. 26 (4): 156-159, 2005

Crisis occurrence and resolution in patients with severe and persistent mental illness - The contribution of suicidality
In: CRISIS-THE JOURNAL OF CRISIS INTERVENTION AND SUICIDE PREVENTION, Vol. 26 (4): 160-169, 2005

The biochemistry of suicide
In: CRISIS-THE JOURNAL OF CRISIS INTERVENTION AND SUICIDE PREVENTION, Vol. 26 (4): 153-155 , 2005

A systematic review of suicide rating scales in schizophrenia
In: CRISIS-THE JOURNAL OF CRISIS INTERVENTION AND SUICIDE PREVENTION, Vol. 26 (4): 170-180 , 2005

MEDIA SUICIDE RESTRICTIONS LEFT UNALTERED

Article in: The Dominion Post [NZ], 5 April 2006, page 5

"Restrictions on media reporting of suicides will remain unchanged, a Parliamentary select committee has ruled. Media organisations wanted the restrictions relaxed to allow greater transparency which, in turn, they said, could lead to a better understanding of the issues surrounding the subject....Youth Suicide Awareness Trust founding chairman Gregory Fortuin .... was adamant that the number of young suicide deaths were not increased by media coverage. They don't get informed by the media. It used to be purely by word of mouth, but today it is cellphones and text messaging "'

Position Vacant

Project Manager – Suicide Prevention

We are currently seeking a suitably qualified person to provide leadership and coordination to support the finalisation and implementation of the New Zealand Suicide Prevention Strategy. Suicide is a major issue in New Zealand and the Ministry of Health has been charged with the responsibility of leading and coordinating the Governments’ strategic response. The successful applicant will take a lead role in coordinating the finalisation, launch and roll-out of the New Zealand Suicide Prevention Strategy. The coordination of a five year multi-sectoral action plan will also be one of the key deliverables in the first six months.

This is a full time permanent position located in Wellington. For further information on these positions please contact Maria Cotter on 04 495-4392 or email maria_cotter@moh.govt.nz Position profiles and Ministry application form are available at www.moh.govt.nz/vacancies, email recruitment@moh.govt.nz or call our recruitment line on 04 496 2314.
Applications must be received by 5pm, Tuesday 18 April 2006.
Advertised on seek.com

National Activities on Suicide Bereavement Project

In August 2005, the National Bereavement Reference Group (NBRG) was established to oversee the development of a nationally coordinated approach to suicide bereavement activities. A priority for the NBRG was the commissioning of research to review, analyse and consolidate the most appropriate methods, models and service delivery options for nationally coordinated suicide bereavement activities – the National Activities on Suicide Bereavement Project.

The outcomes of this project will form the basis of a national policy response/ strategy for suicide bereavement.... In February 2006 Corporate Diagnostics Pty Ltd and its project partners United Synergies Ltd and the University of Queensland were commissioned by the Australian Government Department of Health and Ageing to undertake the National Activities on Suicide Bereavement Project....

RECENTLY PUBLISHED ARTICLES

ACNP task force report on SSRIs and suicidal behavior in Youth
In: NEUROPSYCHOPHARMACOLOGY, Vol. 31 (3): 473-492, MAR 2006

Suicidal ideation in prisoners: risk factors and relevance to suicidal behaviour. A prospective case-control study
In: EUROPEAN ARCHIVES OF PSYCHIATRY AND CLINICAL NEUROSCIENCE, Vol. 256 (2): 87-92, MAR 2006

What characterizes substance abusers who commit suicide attempts? Factors related to Axis I disorders and patterns of substance use disorders - A study of treatment-seeking substance abusers in Norway
In: EUROPEAN ADDICTION RESEARCH, Vol. 12 (2): 102-108 2006

Suicide rates, life satisfaction and happiness as markers for population mental health
In: SOCIAL PSYCHIATRY AND PSYCHIATRIC EPIDEMIOLOGY eFIRST date: 27 MAR 2006

Gender, place, and method of suicide
In: SOCIAL PSYCHIATRY AND PSYCHIATRIC EPIDEMIOLOGY eFIRST date: 27 MAR 2006

Antidepressants reduce the risk of suicide among elderly depressed patients
In: NEUROPSYCHOPHARMACOLOGY, Vol. 31 (1): 178-181, JAN 2006

Psychiatric characteristics of 100 nonviolent suicide attempters in Hungary
In: INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF PSYCHIATRY IN CLINICAL PRACTICE, Vol. 10 (1): 69-72, MAR 2006

Retrospective evaluation of emergency service patients with poisoning: A 3-year study
In: ADVANCES IN THERAPY, Vol. 22 (6): 650-658 NOV-DEC 2005

Promote mental health early: GPs
Article in: The Canberra Times, 24 March 2006, page 8

"A program to promote mental health and prevent suicide should be expanded to primary schools to help children in this critical time, a GPs' group said yesterday. Australian Division of General Practice chief executive Kate Carnell has called for $510 million over four years to tackle the crisis in mental health. The submission will be sent to the interdepartmental committee preparing a mental health action plan by June for the Council of Australian Governments....Ms Carnell said the MindMatters program - to promote mental health and prevent suicide - should be expanded in secondary schools and introduced in primary schools...."

MUCH NEEDED INFORMATION ON SELF-HARM AND YOUNG PEOPLE

Current Australian research shows that service providers working directly with young people want more information on how to respond to self-harm, and harm minimisation strategies when working with young people.

Streetwize, with funding from NSW DoCS and in partnership with the NSW peak-homelessness body YAA (Youth Accommodation Association), is currently working on a new comic about young people who self-harm or are at risk of self-harming. The project also includes a Worker's Kit, for service providers in the refuge / SAAP sector, which will look at some intervention strategies with young people who self-harm. DoCS will initiate training for workers at the close of the project.

We are now at the feedback phase of the Streetwize Process. Streetwize will hold focus groups with young people in services across NSW, as well as with workers. If you would like to comment on the Worker's Kit or know of young people who self-harm or who are at risk of self-harming who would like to comment on the comic resource please contact jackie@streetwize.com.au.

RECENTLY PUBLISHED ARTICLES

Suicidality in pediatric patients treated with antidepressant drugs
In: ARCHIVES OF GENERAL PSYCHIATRY , Vol. 63 (3): 332-339, Mar 2006
Conclusion: Use of antidepressant drugs in pediatric patients is associated with a modestly increased risk of suicidality

Suicidal risk in antidepressant drug trials
In: ARCHIVES OF GENERAL PSYCHIATRY, Vol. 63 (3): 246-248, Mar 2006

Core features of repeated suicidal behaviour
In: SOCIAL PSYCHIATRY AND PSYCHIATRIC EPIDEMIOLOGY, Vol. 41 (2): 103-107, Feb 2006

Local community intervention through depression screening and group activity for elderly suicide prevention
In: PSYCHIATRY AND CLINICAL NEUROSCIENCES, Vol. 60 (1): 110-114, Feb 2006

Indirect self-destructive behavior and overt suicidality in patients with complicated grief
In: JOURNAL OF CLINICAL PSYCHIATRY, Vol. 67 (2): 233-239, Feb 2006

Depression and suicidal behavior in acne patients treated with isotretinoin: A systematic review
In: SEMINARS IN CUTANEOUS MEDICINE AND SURGERY, Vol. 24 (2): 92-102, Jun 2005

Suicide prevention and audit
In: BRITISH JOURNAL OF HOSPITAL MEDICINE, Vol. 66 (11): 627-630, Nov 2005

Tellsomeone Project - Online Survey

RMIT University researchers are currently calling for 5,000 volunteers to complete an anonymous online survey examining trauma-related issues including depression, sexual and domestic abuse, and suicide.
The survey, entitled the Tellsomeone Project, forms part of a research project that will be used as a basis to create better understanding and resources for addressing these insidious and highly prevalent social problems.

Ms Stewart, a clinical and forensic psychology researcher, said that the silence and “invisibility surrounding issues such as abuse, mental health and suicide” often enables the problem to continue.
“Sexual and domestic violence, depression, and suicide are issues that touch many Australians, yet often remain hidden and subject to taboos and stigma,” Ms Stewart said.

Visit the RMIT website for more information & for the link to the survey

State called on to address suicide spike in Aboriginal youth

Article in The West Australian, 22 March 2006, pg 13

"A spate of Aboriginal youth suicides in the North-West has led a prominent indigenous health leader to call on the State Government to do more. Kimberley Aboriginal Medical Service chief executive Henry Councillor said there had been 10 suspected suicides in the Kimberley and Pilbara in the past six months.

He said it was alarming that his counsellors, based in a number of North-West regional centres, were dealing with one or two attempted suicides a fortnight....

WA Ministerial Council for Suicide Prevention chief Professor Sven Silburn said if there were 10 suicides in the past six months, that represented a big jump on previous years. He said much of the State and Federal funding for suicide prevention programs had dried up. "There does seem to have been a resurgence of suicidal behaviour in very remote communities," he said. "That has a lot to do with access to services."

Report paints desperate picture of life in bush

Article in The Canberra Times, 23 March 2006

"Rural Australia is battling an escalating social and economic crisis, with new research showing significantly higher rates of unemployment, domestic violence, teen pregnancies, suicide, coronary heart disease, diabetes and alcohol-related deaths among young people than in cities. A report by Christian charity Mission Australia warns problems are particulary acute among rural Aboriginal communities....The Mission Australia reports says rural and regional Australians are suffering from ''a geography of disadvantage'', with limited public transport options, declining health services and loss of educational and job skills training opportunities. ..."

New board to give youth a say

ABC News Online, Wednesday, March 22, 2006

Young people in Tasmania will be given a voice through a new Youth Advisory Board, which is being established by Mission Australia. The organisation says the board is a response to a youth survey completed last year. The survey shows 42.5 per cent of Tasmanians aged 11 to 14 are most worried about suicide....

'Lifestyle' woes contribute to high NT suicide rate

ABC News Online, Tuesday, March 21, 2006.

The nation's peak advisory group on suicide says latest figures show the Northern Territory has special lifestyle problems. The Australian Bureau of Statistics figures show the Northern Territory's suicide rates are more than double the national average....

Treating depressed mums keeps kids happy

Article in: The Australian, March 22, 2006

TREATING mothers for depression can mean long-term happiness for their children, according to a new study. Depression is known to be passed on genetically, but it can also be affected by the environment in which a child is raised, according to authors of an article published by the Journal of the American Medical Association. A child can develop anxiety and psychological problems if a mother with depression goes without treatment, the authors said.

Treating the mother could avoid the need to treat the child with anti-depressant drugs, the authors said.
The study shows that children of mothers suffering from depression and whose symptoms disappeared during the course of a four-month treatment had much lower chances of suffering from depression or other behaviour problems. "It's a very dramatic and important finding," wrote co-author John Rush, psychiatry professor, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Centre.

View abstract online: Remissions in Maternal Depression and Child Psychopathology
Context: Children of depressed parents have high rates of anxiety, disruptive, and depressive disorders that begin early, often continue into adulthood, and are impairing.
Conclusions: Remission of maternal depression has a positive effect on both mothers and their children, whereas mothers who remain depressed may increase the rates of their children's disorders. These findings support the importance of vigorous treatment for depressed mothers in primary care or psychiatric clinics and suggest the utility of evaluating the children, especially children whose mothers continue to be depressed.

'Patience needed' in treating depression

Article in The Australian: March 23, 2006

When treating depression, patience and persistence may be as crucial as the right drug. A $US35 million study, the largest conducted under real world conditions, found when one antidepressant fails to work, switching to a different drug or adding a second one raises the chance of beating depression....The key, the researchers said, was to keep patients under treatment long enough for a drug to work, which means 12 weeks of treatment before switching. Doctors often change after four.

Based on an article in the New England Journal of Medicine, Volume 354:1231-1242, Number 12, March 23, 2006. View online: Bupropion-SR, Sertraline, or Venlafaxine-XR after Failure of SSRIs for Depression.

Vacant Position

High Support Needs Counsellor: Prison Service

Permanent full time, Risdon Prison, Hobart, Tasmania
Duties: To provide crisis support counselling for offenders identified as at risk of suicide or self-harm or those with complex or high support needs within the Tasmanian Prison Service. Provide psycho-social assessment and treatment including the design, development, implementation and evaluation of treatment programs. Work within a multidisciplinary team and participate in case-management reviews to ensure continuity of care.

Enquiries to: Kay Cuellar, Senior Psychologist, Department of Justice, phone (03) 6216 8121 or email kay.cuellar@justice.tas.gov.au
Contact: For further information, please download a copy of the Statement of Duties from the www.jobs.tas.gov.au website.
Closing Date: Friday 31 March 2006.

Posted on CareerOne website

Position Vacant

Psychologist or Occupational Therapist or Social Worker or Clinical Nurse

Early Intervention Project Officer - Suicide Prevention, Mareeba Clinic, District Mental Health Service, Tablelands Health Service District, Queensland Health

Duties/Abilities: Promote and facilitate the development of a range of early intervention strategies targeting known high risk groups who are at elevated risk or vulnerable to self-harming and/or suicidal behaviour.
Enquiries: Sue Frick (07) 4091 0213.
Application Kit: (07) 4092 9314 oremail: td_recruitment@health.qld.gov.au
Closing Date: 5.00 p.m. Monday, 3 April 2006

Posted on Seek website.

Japan fears deaths are suicide plague

Article in: The Age, by Deborah Cameron, 17 March 2006

"Website pacts indicate creeping despair among young. Thirteen people, dead in group suicides in the past week, have reawakened fears in Japan of a new epidemic of internet death pacts. ...

Though suicide is not a crime in Japan and there are no laws against the websites, as there are in Australia, police guidelines have existed since late last year. "

Coroner's spotlight on suicides

Article in: The West Australian, 18 March 2006

"In late March and early April 2006, six cases of suicide are scheduled to be investigated by the (WA) coroner, and all are believed to have a connection to services for psychiatric patients, or the lack of them."

Grieving the death of a child: Editorial

In the British Medical Journal: 2006; 332: 620-621 (18 March)

"The death of a child brings profound distress and intense grief to the family, challenging all those involved in caring for the family through such times. That such grief can lead to suicide is known, but two cases in this week's BMJ show a particular hazard after a child has died at home: in both cases mothers committed suicide with drugs prescribed for the palliative care of their children....

There is substantial evidence from comparative and longitudinal studies that the grief of parents following the loss of a child is more intense and prolonged than that of other losses...."

Parental suicide after the expected death of a child at home

Article describing 2 case studies in The British Medical Journal, 2006;332:647-648 (18 March)

"Doctors prescribe opioids and other controlled drugs to make patients in a variety of states of disease more comfortable. Once in the community, these drugs are not monitored or audited, and patients and their families are responsible for handling them safely. Recently, end of life care has received greater international attention, and the field of palliative care is emerging strongly. This, in turn, has often changed the setting in which palliative care services are provided from hospital to home. The two cases that follow show a potential hazard in the current system. "

Single mums at risk of depression

Article in The Australian, by Janelle Miles, March 19, 2006

Young single mothers are more likely than other women in Australia to have suicidal thoughts and harm themselves, a survey has found....

View the full article: The psychological health of sole mothers in Australia
In: The Medical Journal of Australia 2006; 184 (6): 265-268

Position Vacant
Executive Officer
Ministerial Council for Suicide Prevention (MCSP)
TELETHON INSTITUTE FOR CHILD HEALTH RESEARCH

The Ministerial Council for Suicide Prevention is seeking an Executive Officer to coordinate and manage the daily activities of the Council. The position acts as Secretariat to the Council and is funded on an annual basis through the Office of Mental Health. A six-month contract is available, with a strong possibility of an eighteen month continuation.

A Job Description and Selection Criteria are available by phoning 9489 7777, or email juliae@ichr.uwa.edu.au. Any further enquiries about the position to Professor Sven Silburn, phone 9489 7711 or email s.silburn@curtin.edu.au. Attractive salary and salary packaging available.

Applications including names and contact details for two referees to Julia Emmerson, HR Manager, Telethon Institute for Child Health Research, PO Box 855, West Perth, WA 6872.

Applications close 30th March 2006.

RECENTLY PUBLISHED

Self-help internet message boards for suicidal people:
In: PSYCHOTHERAPIE Vol 35, No. (1): 30-38, 2006
Study contradicts the assumption that suicide related message boards are harmful.

Who heals the helper? Facilitating the social worker's grief
In: FAMILIES IN SOCIETY-THE JOURNAL OF CONTEMPORARY SOCIAL SERVICES Vol 87 No. (1): 9-15 JAN-MAR 2006. Deals with death of a client, including by suicide

Suicide and youth violence prevention: The promise of an integrated approach
In: AGGRESSION AND VIOLENT BEHAVIOR Vol 11, No (2): 167-175, MAR-APR 2006

Sense of belonging as a predictor of reasons for living in older adults
In: DEATH STUDIES Vol 30, No (3): 243-258, APR 2006
In response to the high rate of suicide among aging people, this study investigated sense of belonging as a predictor of reasons for living in an aged sample of 104 Australians.

Recognition of suicide risk according to the characteristics of the suicide process
In: DEATH STUDIES Vol 30, No (3): 269-279, APR 2006

AUSTRALIAN SUICIDE RATES FALL

Brief article in The Australian, 15 March 2006, pg 4

SUICIDE rates have fallen nationally for the third consecutive year and are now 23per cent below their peak in 1997. Figures released yesterday by the Australian Bureau of Statistics show there were 2098 deaths from suicide registered in 2004, a fall of 5.2per cent from the 2213 suicides in 2003, and a huge drop from the 2720 recorded nine years ago. ....particularly good news for young males aged 15 to 24....Suicide rates in this group fell from 18 per 100,000 population in 2003 to 13.8 in 2004. In 1997, the rate in males aged 15-24 was 31 per 100,000.

View the ABS publication for more detail: Suicides, Australia, 1994 to 2004

RECENTLY PUBLISHED ARTICLES

Personality and reports of suicide ideation among depressed adults 50 years of age or older IN: JOURNAL OF AFFECTIVE DISORDERS, 90 (2-3): 175-180, FEB 2006

Time patterns of attempted suicide IN: JOURNAL OF AFFECTIVE DISORDERS, 90 (2-3): 201-207, FEB 2006

When a patient commits suicide: An empirical study of psychoanalytic clinicians IN: INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF PSYCHOANALYSIS, 87: 159-177 Part 1, FEB 2006

Adolescent suicide and suicidal behavior
IN: JOURNAL OF CHILD PSYCHOLOGY AND PSYCHIATRY, 47 (3-4): 372-394, MAR-APR 2006

Suicide trends in discharged patients with mood disorders: associations with selective serotonin uptake inhibitors and comorbid substance misuse
IN: INTERNATIONAL CLINICAL PSYCHOPHARMACOLOGY, 21 (2): 111-115, MAR 2006

American Indians and suicide - A neglected area of research IN: TRAUMA VIOLENCE & ABUSE , 7 (1): 19-33, JAN 2006

Antidepressants use in children and adolescents and the risk of suicide
IN: EUROPEAN NEUROPSYCHOPHARMACOLOGY, 16 (2): 79-83, FEB 2006

Suicide and Life Threatening Behavior - Latest Issue

February 2006 , Volume 36, No. 1

Contents include:

1. Belief in the inevitability of suicide: Results from a national survey, pp. 1-11
2. Suicidal ideation and attitudes toward suicide, pp. 12-18
3. Risky assessments: Participant suicidality and distress associated with research assessments in a treatment study of suicidal behavior, pp. 19-34
4. The cycle of schizoaffective disorder, cognitive ability, alcoholism, and suicidality, pp. 35-43
5. Violent self-harm in schizophrenia, pp. 44-49
6. Sex differences in completed suicide by schizophrenic patients: A meta-analysis, pp. 50-56
7. Associations between delinquency and suicidal behaviors in a nationally representative sample of adolescents, pp. 57-64
8. Correlates of suicide among home health care utilizers who died by suicide and community controls, pp. 65-75
9. Six year follow-up of health status changes in Danish adults with suicide tendency in 1994, pp. 103-112

Worrying suicide rates in Qld

Part transcript from The World Today on ABC Local Radio - Thursday, 2 March , 2006, reporter: Lisa Millar

ELEANOR HALL: One of the world's leading experts on suicide has warned that Australia is not doing enough to reduce the problem and has pointed to a ten per cent increase in suicide rates in Queensland as a sign that much more research is necessary. Professor Diego De Leo heads up the Australian Institute for Suicide Research and Prevention at Griffith University. And in Brisbane this morning the Institute was officially designated as a World Health Organisation Collaborating Centre - only the second such centre in the world.

LISA MILLAR: The western pacific region, including Australia, has one of the highest suicide rates in the world - 331,000 killing themselves every year.
SHIGERU OMI: Based upon best information available to us 38 - almost 40 per cent of global deaths due to suicide is taking place in this part of the world.
LISA MILLAR: Dr Shigeru Omi is the World Health Organization's Regional Director based in Manila. He blames globalisation, fast paced economic and social change and disconnected families, workplaces and communities.

DIEGO DE LEO: I must denounce the fact that we are not doing enough research in this country. I hope that this WHO recognition will bring us more resources and more possibilities for at least triggering more research because in most cases we are using data from other countries' research, and particularly from Americans. But in this country, there are not many Americans.
LISA MILLAR: Suicide rates have generally been declining over the last seven to eight years, but Professor de Leo has seen worrying data coming out of Queensland.The most recent figures, although still unofficial, points to a massive 10 per cent increase in 2004.
DIEGO DE LEO: And so, we need to be very cautious in claiming that we are controlling this phenomenon and that we have understood everything, because that's largely untrue.

Suicide prevention group to study remote communities

Published: ABC News Online, Friday, March 3, 2006
An Australian Suicide Prevention Group plans to study the high number of suicide cases in Indigenous and remote communities. The Australian Institute for Suicide Research and Prevention (AISRP) wants to undertake the project as part of a new partnership with the World Health Organisation (WHO). In a joint project with WHO, the AISRP will also monitor the Pacific Islands and Asia.

AISRP director Professor Diego De Leo says the research would need Government support.
"I'm really hoping to finalise a new project with Queensland Health and possibly with some Commonwealth Institutions to perform a study on psychological autopsies of Indigenous people compared to caucasians," Professor De Leo said.

Recently Published Articles

Prevalence and correlates of suicidal ideation among young injection vs. noninjection drug users.
In: SUBSTANCE USE & MISUSE, Vol. 41 (2): 245-254, 2006

Long-term treatment and suicidal behavior in severe depression: ECT and antidepressant pharmacotherapy may have different effects on the occurrence and seriousness of suicide attempts.
In: DEPRESSION AND ANXIETY, Vol. 23 (1): 34-41, 2006

Panic disorder and suicidal ideation in primary care
In: DEPRESSION AND ANXIETY, Vol. 23 (1): 11-16, 2006

Understanding suicide in Australian farmers
In: SOCIAL PSYCHIATRY AND PSYCHIATRIC EPIDEMIOLOGY, Vol. 41 (1): 1-10 JAN 2006

Aust partnership to study suicide prevention

Article from ABC News Online, Thursday, March 2, 2006
The Australian Institute for Suicide Research and Prevention wants governments to encourage better intervention programs at schools. About 150 Australian and international health experts are in Brisbane for the launch of a partnership between the institute and the World Health Organisation. The institute will study ways to lower suicide rates in Australia, the Pacific Islands and Asia.

South Australian Suicide Postvention Project: Report to Mental Health Services Department of Health

Suicide postvention represents an opportunity for mental health services, social services and other health services to collaborate to enhance the quality of care provided to those persons who become bereaved due to the suicide of someone they know. Suicide postvention has recently been recognised as an important part of suicide prevention because those bereaved through suicide are a high risk group for mental ill health and suicide.

The Project’s purpose was to examine current approaches to postvention for those bereaved through suicide in metropolitan Adelaide from the perspective of consumers, service providers and organisations.

An Ideal Model of Suicide Postvention Services (p.162) was developed from the findings to articulate the concepts and components arising from this study. Taken objectively, this model will contribute to the safe and efficient delivery of quality suicide postvention care.

Published Dec 2005, University of Adelaide, Department of General Practice

Record number of calls to SANE Helpline after Gallop and Rogers reveal depression

AICAFMHA News (Australian Infant, Child, Adolescent and Family Mental Health Association) News in Brief - Issue # 6.01 (25/02/2006)

The SANE Helpline, a national Freecall mental illness helpline, had its busiest January ever since it opened in 1998. The record number of callers for a January indicated that news of the depression experienced by former WA Premier Geoff Gallop, and NSW rugby league legend Steve Rogers, had prompted them to seek help for the first time.

Analysis of 838 calls received in January 2006 show a:
* 25% increase in the calls from men
* 45% increase in calls relating to depression
* 65% increase in calls relating to suicide as one of the main issues

Helpline advisors also reported an increase in the number of callers aged 70 or older, who are a recognised high–risk group for suicide. Barbara Hocking, Executive Director of SANE Australia, says: ’The responsible media reporting of depression and inclusion of helpline numbers has encouraged many men to talk for the very first time about their symptoms and to seek guidance on getting treatment. Mental illnesses like depression are real and need real treatment, so it’s positive that increasing numbers of people have been helped to take action.

Gene linked to depression risk
By Alex Wilde for ABC Science Online, Wednesday 1st March 2006

"Australian researchers say more than a fifth of the population has a genetic predisposition to major depression triggered by a string of stressful life events. These events include the loss of a parent or other significant relative, a relationship breakdown, or employment, financial, housing and health crises.
The study, published in the latest issue of the British Journal of Psychiatry, found that a gene that controls the neurotransmitter serotonin is crucial. The researchers say people with a short version of the serotonin transporter gene have an 80 per cent chance of developing clinical depression if they have three or more negative life events in a year. People with a long or more protective version of the gene only have a 30 per cent risk of becoming depressed under similar circumstances.

The study, by researchers from the University of New South Wales with affiliated research institutes and teaching hospitals, evaluates the relationship between genes and life experience from young adulthood into middle age in 127 teachers across 25 years. It is the first study to account for the timing of the first onset of depression across the lifespan."

View the full text of the article in the British Journal of Psychiatry at: http://bjp.rcpsych.org/current.shtml

Suicidality, Depression, and Mental Health Service Use in Canada

Objective: To determine the magnitude of depression and suicidal populations, the overlap between these populations, and the associated patterns of mental health service use.

Results: Approximately 4% to 5% of the population suffered from a major depression or suicidality. About 2 of 3 of those who were suicidal did not suffer from depression, and over 70% of those with depression did not report suicidality. Persons with depression and suicidality or depression (but no suicidality) were the 2 groups most likely to report ambulatory mental health contacts, and the provider groups contacted most often included physicians. The use of provider groups was considerably lower for those who were suicidal (but had no depression). Whereas the latter were more likely to report contacts than not, suicidality, in and of itself, did not exert a strong effect on contact with any particular provider group. For those who were suicidal (but who had no depression), less than 1 in 3 reported any mental health service contact, including an inpatient mental health stay.

Conclusions: The lack of contact by those who are suicidal (but who have no depression) is provocative, given that almost 2 of 3 of the suicidal subjects had no depression. Detrimental outcomes such as depression may develop without effective early interventions and uptake by a sufficient supply of appropriately trained and financially accessible personnel.

Helping those who want to harm themselves
Article in The Age, 25 February 2006, by Amanda Place

"Research being conducted at ORYGEN Youth Health - a public mental health service for young Victorians - is providing valuable insight into youth suicide risk with the aid of British expert Jo Robinson. Ms Robinson is a seasoned researcher in the field, having worked on a study in Manchester, the National Confidential Inquiry into Suicide and Homicide by People with Mental Illness.

Ms Robinson plans to follow-up research on young people who suicide after a first episode of psychosis....The ORYGEN team's main focus will be on developing suicide intervention methods, protecting those experiencing their first episode by lowering their sense of fear, isolation and their risk of suicide.

The team plans to recruit certain young people who pass through ORYGEN triage2. The researchers plan to interview those at risk of suicide and help each young person identify his or her own way of improving their mood. The ORYGEN team will then send each client a monthly postcard for 12 months, reminding them that help is available and ways the young person can lift his or her mood, based on their own strategies. Each card will contain a unique message as well as a general health promotion tip. The initiative is undergoing ethics approval and should be operating by late March. "

Counselling Manager

Crisis Support Services Inc (CSS) provides telephone counselling to people in personal crisis. CSS is a not-for-profit, non-government with no religious affiliations counselling service. Our main services include Suicide Helpline Victoria, Mensline Australia, Being Connected and Australia Post Mensline. We provide confidential counselling, support, information and referral services 24 hours a day, seven days a week. As a Counselling Manager you would be an integral part of our counselling team. Reporting to the Operations Manager with responsibilities for supervision, coaching, debriefing etc the successful candidate will ensure that our professional counselling services are being delivered to the highest standards.

Candidates must have an understanding and be sensitive to men’s relationship issues and suicide intervention. For further information email hr@crisissupport.org.au Applications should be sent via email as above or forwarded to Carmel Parker, Crisis Support Services, PO Box 2335 Footscray 3011 by the 10th March 2006. Advertised on the Seek website.

When gambling becomes a problem

SIEC Alert Number 61, February 2006

Although suicide attempts among pathological gamblers are more frequent than in the general population, the true incidence of suicide related to gambling may never be known. The Canada Safety Council (2004) estimates the number to exceed 200 a year and suggests that for every one of these suicides, five gamblers may be hospitalized with self-inflicted injuries.

SIEC website: http://www.suicideinfo.ca/csp/go.aspx?tabid=23

Recently Published Journal Articles

The case against no-suicide contracts: The commitment to treatment statement as a practice alternative
JOURNAL OF CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGY 62 (2): 243-251 FEB 2006

Do SSRIs cause suicide in children? The evidence is underwhelming
JOURNAL OF CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGY 62 (2): 235-241 FEB 2006

Advances in the assessment of suicide risk
JOURNAL OF CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGY 62 (2): 185-200 FEB 2006

Suicide in mental health in-patients and within 3 months of discharge. National clinical survey
BRITISH JOURNAL OF PSYCHIATRY 188: 129-134 FEB 2006

Suicide within 12 months of mental health service contact in different age and diagnostic groups. National clinical survey
BRITISH JOURNAL OF PSYCHIATRY 188: 135-142 FEB 2006

Firearms legislation and reductions in firearm-related suicide deaths in New Zealand
AUSTRALIAN AND NEW ZEALAND JOURNAL OF PSYCHIATRY 40 (3): 253-259 MAR 2006

Suicidal behaviour among primary-care patients with depressive disorders
PSYCHOLOGICAL MEDICINE 36 (2): 203-210 FEB 2006

Psychiatric morbidity is related to parental age: a national cohort study
PSYCHOLOGICAL MEDICINE 36 (2): 269-276 FEB 2006

The effect of macroeconomic variables on suicide
Article in Psychological Medicine, Vol. 36, No. 2, pgs 181-189, Feb 2006

Many studies have searched for a direct causal relationship between economic hardship and suicide, however, findings have been varied. Macroeconomic trends are significantly associated with suicide. The patterns in males and females are very different, and there are further substantial age-related differences.

Suicide and Life-Threatening Behavior

December 2005, Volume 35, No. 6

Latest issue: articles include:

• The usefulness of coroners' data on suicides for providing information relevant to prevention
• Predicting the suicide attempts of lesbian, gay, and bisexual youth
• Contributors to suicidal ideation among bipolar patients with and without a history of suicide attempts
• Reported childhood trauma and suicide attempts in schizophrenic patients
• Characteristics of suicide attempters and nonattempters with schizophrenia in a rural community
• Suicide attempts and family history of suicide in three psychiatric populations
• Siblings after suicide - "The forgotten bereaved"
• Examining a model of the relation between religiosity and suicidal ideation in a sample of African American and white college students
• Perceptions concerning college student suicide: Data from four universities

FEMALE SUICIDE RISES BY 25PC IN YEAR
Article in the Dominion Post, 21 February 2006

WOMEN are behaving more like men and a tragic consequence is sharply increasing rates of suicides by females, experts say. The latest available national suicide figures made public yesterday, for 2003, show a 25 per cent increase in female suicides in one year. In 2002, 113 females killed themselves. For the following year that figure had climbed to 141. In total, 515 people died by suicide in 2003 -- up from 465 in 2002.
Men's figures continued to be high, with 374 deaths -- compared with 352 the previous year.

Self-inflicted deaths remain New Zealand's main cause of fatal injuries, eclipsing even the road death toll of 461 in 2003. Maori, especially males, continue to be more at risk than non-Maori. A new measurement tool comparing levels of deprivation with suicide rates suggested those less affluent were more likely to kill themselves.

The figures come as media organisations fight tight legal restrictions on reporting suicides, which are based on the philosophy that silence would lead to fewer suicides.

Waking up to those in despair
article in Hobart Mercury, 18 February 2006, by Mike Bingham

"IT'S lunchtime and 30 people have left their desks at the Hydro's Murray St headquarters, carrying sandwiches and other snacks, and filed into a theatrette to have a 90-minute briefing session about depression and suicide. So far, more than 10 per cent of the 900-member statewide workforce has enrolled in the special program run by Australian Red Cross.

It is called Mental Health First Aid and was introduced a year ago after two employees, both men, killed themselves. ...The Hydro already had a long-established counselling service but the appeal from staff was for detailed information on mental health. The upshot was the Red Cross program, first introduced in Tasmania two years ago. It's a 12-hour course, divided into modules, and there have been several presentations so far in Hobart and Trevallyn and more are planned for other regions...."

Young people’s help-seeking for mental health problems
Debra Rickwood, Frank P. Deane, Coralie J. Wilson, and Joseph Ciarrochi

Australian e-Journal for the Advancement of Mental Health (AeJAMH), Volume 4, Issue 3 (Supplement), 2005

"This paper summarises an ambitious research agenda aiming to uncover the factors that affect help-seeking among young people for mental health problems. The research set out to consider why young people, and particularly young males, do not seek help when they are in psychological distress or suicidal; how professional services be made more accessible and attractive to young people; the factors that inhibit and facilitate help-seeking; and how community gatekeepers can support young people to access services to help with personal and emotional problems. A range of studies was undertaken in New South Wales, Queensland and the ACT, using both qualitative and quantitative approaches. Data from a total of 2721
young people aged 14-24 years were gathered, as well as information from some of the community gatekeepers to young people’s mental health care.

This research program attempted to address some of the gaps in the help-seeking research literature. In particular, it contributes to better understanding of the measurement of help-seeking intentions and behaviour. It proposes a preliminary conceptual framework for understanding help-seeking at the level of the individual. Many of the trends in help-seeking behaviour described in the previous research are confirmed. Evidence regarding some of the barriers and facilitators of help-seeking is provided, along with the implications of these for the development of effective interventions for young people. There remain, however, many research questions to be investigated."

Mental health hit hard by soft drugs
Article in The Australian, February 15, 2006 by Jeremy Roberts

"THE connection between mental illness and the use of cannabis and amphetamines has been exposed by a World Health Organisation report that finds almost 50 per cent of prisoners entering South Australia's penal system had both drug and mental health problems....Of the prisoners interviewed, 117 - or 47 per cent - revealed they had a mental health disorder and a drug problem, with depression the most common illness.
They also reported having suffered anxiety and panic attacks and having harmed themselves. The results lend weight to warnings by government and researchers that the so-called soft drugs, cannabis and amphetamines, are creating havoc in the mental health system, prisons and hospitals.

The study, which completed its first phase in October, was developed at the Royal Adelaide Hospital in conjunction with WHO and is a world-first examination of the link between drug use and mental health of people entering prison. "

RESTRICTIONS ON SUICIDE REPORTING FLAWED, MPS TOLD

Article in the Dominion Post, 11 February 2006, by Haydon Dewes

"MEDIA organisations have urged MPs considering changes to the Coroners Act to relax outdated restrictions on the reporting of suicide. Legislation being considered by Parliament's justice committee to modernise the act retains the restrictions, which are based on the argument that silence would lead to fewer suicides....

The Commonwealth Press Union told the committee that such thinking was flawed. The most recent suicide figures, from 2002, show New Zealand has the highest suicide rate in the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development for females aged 15 years to 24 years and the third highest for young men. The CPU's media freedom committee has worked with Government officials to develop protocols on reporting suicide in a restrained manner. "

An overview of Australian Aboriginal suicide

by Terri Elliott-Farrelly

Articles are a component of Doctoral research currently being conducted with the Shoalhaven and Illawara Aboriginal Peoples.

Part One: in Aboriginal and Islander Health Worker Journal v.29, no.1, Jan - Feb 2005: 11-15, 27-28
Explores Australian Aboriginal suicide, detailing suicide rates (epidemiology) and proposed theories of causes (etiology).

Part Two: in Aboriginal and Islander Health Worker Journal v.29, no.1, Jan - Feb 2005: 24-28
Explores approaches to prevention.

Twin Study Links Marijuana Abuse, Suicide,And Depression

Men and women who smoked marijuana before age 17 are 3.5 times as likely to attempt suicide as those who started later. Individuals who are dependent on marijuana have a higher risk than nondependent individuals of experiencing major depressive disorder and suicidal thoughts and behaviors. The researchers who discovered these relationships, in a recent NIDA-funded large-scale epidemiological study, say that although the causes are not clear, their findings demonstrate the importance of considering associated mental health issues in the treatment and prevention of marijuana abuse.

Dr. Michael Lynskey and colleagues at the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, Missouri, gathered data from four groups of same-sex twin pairs (508 identical, 493 fraternal; 518 female, 483 male) enrolled in the Australian Twin Registry.

NIDA Notes: Research Findings Vol. 20, No. 2 (August 2005)

A framework for minimising the incidence of self-harm in prison

by Greg Dear, chapter in the book: Corrections criminology / edited by Sean O'Toole and Simon Eyland, pages 151-161, Hawkins Press, 2005.

The rate of suicide and self harm is higher among prisoners than among the general population. This chapter outlines a theoretical framework to guide prison administrators in developing comprehensive self harm prevention programs.

Evidence base to a preventive health assessment in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples

Prepared by the National Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation, lead agency of the Chronic Disease Alliance of Non-Government Organisations (Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health). Prepared for The Royal Australian College of General Practitioners, August 2005


The National guide is intended for all health professionals delivering primary health care to the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population. This includes general practitioners (GPs), Aboriginal health workers, nurses and those specialists with a role in delivering primary health care.

The National guide package consists of the following:
• Recommendations compiled from the review of the Evidence base
• Child and adult preventive health life cycle summaries.

Suicide / Self Harm section pages 127-134

Youth Counsellor, South Metropolitan Area Health Service

Department of Health
$57,642 - $62,816, Permanent - Full Time, Peel Community Mental Health

To develop and provide early intervention mental health programmes for youth 15-25 in the Peel Region. To reduce the prevalence of mental health problems in youth in order to prevent the development of more serious mental health disorders.

SELECTION CRITERIA:
Possession of a relevant tertiary qualification and eligible for membership of appropriate professional association. Demonstrated advanced assessment, counselling and crisis intervention skills, including for people at risk of self-harm or suicidal behaviours. Experience and ability in working with vulnerable youth (15-25).

FOR FURTHER JOB RELATED INFORMATION:
Further information: may be obtained by contacting Richard Bostwick, A/Clinical Coordinator on 9531 8080 or email richard.bostwick@health.wa.gov.au
Application from website: http://www.fhhs.health.wa.gov.au
advertised on http://www.jobs.wa.gov.au
CLOSING DATE: 2006-02-13 4:00 PM

Queensland Suicide and Self-Harm Prevention Conference 2006: Sharing learnings from practice and research

The Queensland Government is hosting the inaugural Queensland Suicide and Self-Harm Prevention Conference 2006: Sharing learnings from practice and research. This two-day conference will provide delegates with current information and knowledge to effectively work towards the prevention of suicide and self-harm.

Between: 30 Mar 2006 and 31 Mar 2006
Where: The Mercure Hotel, Brisbane, QLD
Contact Email: spconference@communities.qld.gov.au
Contact Phone: 07 3404 3058

National Indigenous Suicide Forum

This forum, planned for March 2006 will be held in Darwin, and SPA wishes to acknowledge the support of the Larrakia people, hosts of this forum. The aim of the forum is to contribute to the development of strategies for advancing the National Indigenous Suicide (ISP) Initiative. The goals of the forum are to:

1. Work collaboratively in developing shared knowledge and experience leading to strategies which are able to be adapted to individual community environments and situations.
2. Identify a range of actions which may be taken by different organisations and groups which are consistent with the ISP Initiative
3. Identify how the effectiveness of initiatives will be monitored and evaluated.

The first steps in planning have begun, but the detailed planning for topics, speakers, format and papers will be developed through a national consultation process with Indigenous communities, services, and agencies as well as any other interested individuals or groups.
If you are interested in, or want to know more about, how you can be involved, Suicide Prevention Australia.

PARENTS `AT FAULT FOR TEEN SUICIDES'
Article in the Dominion Post, 6 February 2006, by Nikki MacDonald

TEENAGERS could be resorting to suicide because an over-protective society and parents have shielded them from life's problems, Wellington's coroner says....He suspected New Zealand's over-protective society -- which had removed failure and competition from childhood experience -- was partly to blame. "Are our attempts these days to protect our children and young people against life's failures and traumatic events having a counter-productive effect in that they are not being inoculated against failure by exposure? New Zealand has one of the worst youth suicide rates in the developed world. The highest rate in 2002 was in people aged 20 to 24.