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"