Every year, about 30,000 people die by suicide in the U.S., and some 650,000 receive emergency treatment after a suicide attempt. Often, those most at risk are the least able to access professional help. Reducing Suicide provides a blueprint for addressing this tragic and costly problem: how we can build an appropriate infrastructure, conduct needed research, and improve our ability to recognize suicide risk and effectively intervene. Rich in data, the book also strikes an intensely personal chord, featuring compelling quotes about people's experience with suicide. The book explores the factors that raise a person's risk of suicide: psychological and biological factors including substance abuse, the link between childhood trauma and later suicide, and the impact of family life, economic status, religion, and other social and cultural conditions. The authors review the effectiveness of existing interventions, including mental health practitioners' ability to assess suicide risk among patients. They present lessons learned from the Air Force suicide prevention program and other prevention initiatives. And they identify barriers to effective research and treatment. This new volume will be of special interest to policy makers, administrators, researchers, practitioners, and journalists working in the field of mental health.

This book takes an in-depth look at the phenomenon of police officer suicide. Centered on statistical information collected from cases of officer suicide from 2017 to 2019, this volume helps readers understand the circumstances surrounding death by suicide amongst law enforcement personnel and makes recommendations for identification and prevention. Through interview and case presentations, this volume examines the lives and last days and weeks of several officers, using findings from social media, departmental surveys, medical examiner reports, toxicology reports and interviews with loved ones and colleagues to create a psychological autopsy. With 14 chapters contributed by former law enforcement, researchers, and mental health professionals, it addresses national, state, and local policy implications and strategies, presenting a theory for better understanding and preventing the phenomenon of officer suicide. This volume will be of interest to researchers in policing, to law enforcement and first responder leadership and administrative professionals, and to mental health practitioners and clinicians working with this unique population

This book takes an individual human approach to the problem of suicide in public safety occupations. As a researcher in suicide, coauthor John Violanti relies heavily upon statistics to make the case for prevention. These worthwhile statistics help to form the big picture, but one must keep in mind that these are just statistics and not people. With coauthor Mary Van Haute and her knowledge of the human condition and experience in interventions, she adds the human dimension by relating her stories of real people who worked in public safety occupations and their difficult and sometimes tragic consequences with near and completed suicide. Added to her expertise is her own life experience: she is a survivor of her brother’s death by suicide. For the reader, the book provides a detailed insight into the reality of suicide and how it tears into the very fiber of being human in an occupational culture that requires one to forget emotions, feelings, and at times compassion. Stigma and a myriad of misnomers silence the majority of suicide attempt survivors, robbing suicide prevention specialists of lifesaving knowledge and perspective. Here are the stories of people who have balanced the risk of being judged and misunderstood with the value of being a mentor and role model to others. They share their stories about living with mental illness, addiction, and suicide in the hopes that it will have a positive impact on the readers and ultimately save a life. It is also a look back at the beaten path of Van Haute’s own double road of grief—from a time of ignorance through years of hard-knocks education to a point of peaceful resolve, the trials and tasks facing a survivor of suicide loss are chronicled. Each chapter concludes with a case analysis of lessons learned from the story courageously shared. This book is an opportunity to see that there is life after lifelessness, hope after hopelessness and peace after restlessness.

In this second edition of Police Suicide: Epidemic in Blue, the author brings together "old and new" information on police suicide and he introduces some promising findings. In doing so, he clarifies some issues and provides a source of information for police officers, administrators, and academic researchers. In this lucidly written book of ten chapters, Doctor Violanti discusses the classical studies in suicide, the accuracy and validity of police suicide rates, probable precipitating factors associated with police suicide, the impact of retirement, the idea of "suicide by suspect," the ante.

The range of information in this book is broad and offers strategies and tactics that may help to prevent suicides. It was written by several skilled and caring professionals, and it was their aim to give law enforcement officers, administrators, and mental health professionals additional information and skills in dealing with law enforcement officers in crisis. It will be interesting and useful to those who would read it with the intention of understanding this dilemma faced by law enforcement and who have a desire to continue the search for possible solutions. The book contains far more than.

An innovative treatment approach with a strong empirical evidence base, brief cognitive-behavioral therapy for suicide prevention (BCBT) is presented in step-by-step detail in this authoritative manual. Leading treatment developers show how to establish a strong collaborative relationship with a suicidal patient, assess risk, and immediately work to establish safety. Proven interventions are described for building emotion regulation and crisis management skills and dismantling the patient's suicidal belief system. The book includes case examples, sample dialogues, and 17 reproducible handouts, forms, scripts, and other clinical tools. The large-size format facilitates photocopying; purchasers also get access to a webpage where they can download and print the reproducible materials.

Grounded in clinical research, extensive experience, and deep familiarity with police culture, this book offers highly practical guidance for psychotherapists and counselors. The authors vividly depict the pressures and challenges of police work and explain the impact that line-of-duty issues can have on officers and their loved ones. Numerous concrete examples and tips show how to build rapport with cops, use a range of effective intervention strategies, and avoid common missteps and misconceptions. Approaches to working with frequently encountered clinical problems--such as substance abuse, depression, trauma, and marital conflict--are discussed in detail. A new preface in the paperback and e-book editions highlights the book's relevance in the context of current events and concerns about police-community relations. See also Kirschman's related self-help guide I Love a Cop, Third Edition: What Police Families Need to Know, an ideal recommendation for clients and their family members.

The majority of gun deaths in the United States are suicide deaths, and the majority of suicide deaths are gun deaths. Most people are unaware that suicide, at nearly 43,000 deaths per year, is more common than homicide and other widely publicized tragedies. And yet, suicide is typically absent from discussions of gun violence. As such, the national conversation on gun violence is inadequate and unrelated to the majority of gun deaths in this country. In Guns and Suicide, Michael Anestis reframes our perspective on gun violence by shifting the focus to suicide. Guns play a uniquely profound role in American suicide, and Anestis explains how they have this effect-not by making otherwise non-suicidal people want to die, but by facilitating suicide attempts among suicidal individuals. He reviews the evidence - in suicide and other public health concerns - that focusing on specific means for contracting an unwanted outcome (e.g., HIV) can successfully reduce the frequency of that outcome. With suicide, this could mean the passage of legislation related to firearm ownership and storage, non-legislative encouragement of safe storage of private firearms, voluntary and temporary removal of firearms from the home during times of distress, or a combination of these factors. Importantly, this is not a book about gun control. Anestis does not argue in favor of tighter restrictions on ownership, assault weapon bans, or longer waiting periods for purchase because these will not substantially reduce the staggering gun suicide rate. Rather, Anestis aims for a cultural shift towards suicide-specific safe gun ownership and puts forth unemotional suggestions in hopes of leveraging common ground in the pursuit of a lower suicide rate.

Discover effective strategies to help prevent youth suicide In Emotionally Naked: A Teacher's Guide to Preventing Suicide and Recognizing Students at Risk, trainer, speaker, and suicide loss survivor Anne Moss Rogers, and clinical social worker and researcher, Kimberly O'Brien, PhD, LICSW, empower middle and high school educators with the knowledge and skills to leverage their relationships with students to reduce this threat to life. The purpose of this book is not to turn teachers into therapists but given the pervasive public health problem of suicide in our youth, it's a critical conversation that all educators need to feel comfortable having. Educators will learn evidence-based concepts of suicide prevention, plus lesser known innovative strategies and small culture shifts for the classroom to facilitate connection and healthy coping strategies, the foundation of suicide prevention. Included is commentary from teachers, school psychologists, experts in youth suicidology, leaders from mental health nonprofits, program directors, and tudents. In addition, readers will find practical tips, and sample scripts, with innovative activities that can be incorporated into teaching curricula. You'll learn about: The teacher's role in suicide prevention, intervention, postvention, collaboration The different and often cryptic ways students indicate suicidality What to do/say when a student tells you they are thinking of suicide Small shifts that can create a suicide-prevention classroom/school environment How to address a class of grieving students and the empty desk syndrome Link to a download of resources, worksheets, activities, scripts, quizzes, and more Who is it for: Middle/high school teachers and educators, school counselors, nurses, psychologists, coaches, and administrators, as well as parents who wish to better understand the complex subject of youth suicide.

Suicide prevention initiatives are part of much broader systems connected to activities such as the diagnosis of mental illness, the recognition of clinical risk, improving access to care, and coordinating with a broad range of outside agencies and entities around both prevention and public health efforts. Yet suicide is also an intensely personal issue that continues to be surrounded by stigma. On September 11-12, 2018, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine held a workshop in Washington, DC, to discuss preventing suicide among people with serious mental illness. The workshop was designed to illustrate and discuss what is known, what is currently being done, and what needs to be done to identify and reduce suicide risk. Improving Care to Prevent Suicide Among People with Serious Mental Illness summarizes presentations and discussions of the workshop.