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