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Issue 8

 

SPINZ news March 2007

www.spinz.org.nz

In this issue:

• 2006 SPINZ Symposium
• New bereavement and after an attempt support services
• Kapiti Postvention Initiative
• Regional Suicide Postvention Response Service for Wellington
• LivingWorks (ASIST) in New Zealand
• A visiting overseas student writes her thesis on youth suicide in New Zealand
• Deliberate Self-Harm prevention resources
• New Zealand resource news and events
• Australian resource news and events
• International resource news and events

 

The 2007 Symposium is planned for November in Wellington

2006 Symposium Well Received

Researchers and practitioners from the suicide prevention sector in Australia and New Zealand joined together to share information about suicide attempt behaviour and deliberate self harm, at the fourth National Suicide Prevention Symposium, held in Dunedin late last November.

Nearly 250 delegates from a variety of District Health Boards, trusts, charities, government departments, colleges and universities, attended the two day symposium, which was opened with a keynote speech from the Honorable Minister Jim Anderton. Merryn Statham, Director of the Suicide Prevention Information New Zealand (SPINZ) team at the Mental Health Foundation said: "We were very happy at how well this symposium was received. It provided a valuable opportunity for a wider range than usual of people involved in suicide prevention to focus on the area of attempted suicide. We attribute this to the collaboration with the Injury Prevention Research Unit, Otago University, and Public Health South who were wonderful to work with on such an event."

International speakers at the symposium included Professor George Patton from VicHealth in Melbourne, who presented new research on adolescent self-harm - its origins, course and scope for intervention, and Alex Blaszczynski, Professor of Psychology and Head of Medical Psychology at Westmead Hospital in Sydney who looked at the link between problem gambling and suicidal behaviours.

New Zealand experts from the suicide prevention sector included Dr Nicole Coupe, who discussed suicide attempt data in the Maori population and Maria Cotter and Dr Sarb Johal from the Ministry of Health, who presented the New Zealand Suicide Prevention Strategy and key points about suicide trends throughout New Zealand.

For full details of the 2006 SPINZ Symposium, go to http://www.spinz.org.nz/page.php?p=75 where you can read the opening address from Minister Anderton, as well as access presentations given by key speakers during the two days.

Mr Anderton also released the latest suicide statistics (2004) and a new report from the Ministry of Health: "New Zealand suicide trends: mortality 1921–2003, hospitalisations for intentional self-harm 1978–2004"

For more on Prof. George Patton's presentation, click here.

Suicide Prevention for Pacific Communities in New Zealand, Discussion Forum, SPINZ Symposium 2006
By Magnum Tuipulotu, SPINZ Community Liaison

The aim of the forum was to discuss suicide prevention for Pacific communities in New Zealand. This involved discussion with the participants on their views on suicide prevention in their work. The session started with a prayer and a whakawhanaungatanga. The introductions drew out the various skills and backgrounds in the room and identified others who are doing similar work to help prevent suicide. The workshop was an opportunity to network with workers that are engaged with the Pacific community.

In the workshop there was an overview of the New Zealand Suicide Prevention Strategy and how the framework can work for Pacific islanders. Molly Fiso who is the Pacific representative on the NZ Suicide Prevention Strategy Action Taskforce, spoke about her role in the group, to ensure that Pacific voices are heard at a strategic level.

A key issue that was raised during the discussion was the need to have more research around Pacific suicide so that Pacific approaches are also guided by safe practice in order to have culturally appropriate interventions. There is still a strong feeling of 'Pacific for Pacific' that needs to be taken into account when implementing strategies for the community.

Other issues discussed were some of the causal factors as to why some Pacific islanders die by suicide, including breakdown in communication between parents and children, disconnectedness from one's culture and the NZ-born versus Island-born debate. And for protective factors, spirituality came out as a strong factor for Pacific.

Malo le galulue, Magnum Tuipulotu

Interactive txt messaging for crisis intervention and suicide prevention

Lifetxt Trust is a project lead by Graham Roper. Graham is currently a senior Consumer Advisor, Mental Health, for Otago District Health Board. He is also Chairperson of the National Association of Mental Health Service Consumer Advisors.

Mr Roper is putting proposals to government for funding for a text counselling service. The text counselling service has been two years in the planning. Graham's presentation on how this proposed service might operate, was delivered at a workshop on the first day of the SPINZ Symposium.

Ministry of Health announces new bereavement support and after a suicide attempt service

The new service will be a collaboration between Clinical Advisory Services Aotearoa Ltd (CASA) and Victim Support.

CASA is a nation-wide New Zealand mental health consultancy company, with over 20 staff including psychologists and a growing number of social workers. The majority of CASA's work is involved in suicide prevention (Child Youth and Family - The Towards Wellbeing Programme, and postvention through the Ministry of Health). CASA has just launched its corporate website www.casa.org.nz

There are five parts to the service:

• A suicide bereavement support service, initially to be piloted in three police districts (Christchurch, East Coast, and the Auckland region). A national suicide support coordinator and district support workers will be appointed.
• Postvention training.
• A flexible community response service in cases of suspected contagion (clusters) e.g. recently in Dunedin and Putaruru.
• Four pilot programmes for after a suicide attempt support.
• Management of the Postvention Response Fund.

A budget of $3 million has been allocated until July 2009. See Hon. Jim Anderton's press release for more information.

Kapiti Postvention Initiative

By Sarah Lee, SPINZ Workshop Co-ordinator, Wellington region community liaison

In September 2006 a number of local services and concerned members of the community met to discuss a local response to two youth suicides in the Kapiti Coast region.

As a result of the initial meeting, it was decided a core postvention group be established with the aim of leading the response, which was based on the "Guidance for community organisations involved in suicide postvention" published by the Ministry of Youth Development in 2005.

The agreed purpose of the Kapiti Postvention Initiative (KPVI) is to develop and implement strategies that aim to reduce the risk of imitative suicidal behaviour, and promote the healthy recovery of the affected community.

The following organisations are contributing to the ongoing development of KPVI:

• Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service – C&CDHB
• Child, Youth and Family Service
• Drug and Alcohol Addiction Services
• Group Special Education – Ministry of Education
• Kapiti Choices – Consumer Advocacy
• Kapiti Family Violence Initiative
• Kapiti Police
• Kapiti Primary Health Organisation
• Kapiti Safer Community Trust
• Kapiti Victim Support
• Kapiti Youth Support
• Primary and Secondary School Principal's
• Regional Public Health – HVDHB
• SPINZ (Suicide Prevention Information New Zealand)
• WIPA – PHO

From its establishment, the Initiative was committed to ensuring that all activities undertaken were safe and based on sound research for effective suicide postvention. While funding was secured from the Ministry of Health Suicide Postvention Response Fund to undertake specific community activities, the success of the Initiative was reliant on the generosity of community agencies to commit resources and staff to participate.

The Initiative has implemented a range of activities as well as identified several service gaps and needs in the Kapiti community arising out of the suicides but also for future suicide prevention work in this region.

The activities include providing parent information evenings, developing a community directory of local services, providing relevant information to support local GP's in recognizing and managing suicide risk, mapping referral pathways for medium to high risk youth and meeting with editors from local media.

For more information about this initiative contact SPINZ Community Liaison Sarah Lee sarahlee@spinz.org.nz

Regional Suicide Postvention Response Service for Wellington

By Barry Taylor, Regional Suicide Postvention Co-ordinator

Wellington Regional Public Health – in collaboration with SPINZ and South East City PHO - is establishing a new service to help agencies and communities to respond to the impact of suicide. Funded by Capital & Coast District Health Board, the Regional Suicide Postvention Response Service will operate across the Capital and Coast and Hutt Valley catchments.

After a suicide, especially of a young person, there is a risk that other people may also suicide. This is often referred to as 'copycat suicides' or 'suicide contagion'. Past experience has shown that agencies in a community are often unsure of what to do or there is not a process to bring the relevant agencies together to provide a coordinated response. The fear of other suicides can also increase community demand for something to be done. This may result in well-intentioned activities been undertaken that may not be beneficial and may even increase the risk of more suicides.

The purpose of the Regional Suicide Postvention Response Service is to develop strategies to reduce the risk of suicide contagion and promote the health recovery of the affected community. Using a population health approach, the Service will provide support and guidance to affected communities about effective and 'safe' suicide postvention strategies as well as facilitate a process to bring together all relevant regional and local agencies to provide a coordinated response.

Barry Taylor, who has 20 years experience in suicide prevention and postvention at the local, national and international levels, was appointed in November 2006 as the Regional Suicide Postvention Co-ordinator to develop the service over the next 5 months. The model for the Service is the establishment of local community response teams across the Wellington region that can be called together in the event of a suicide.

In the first phase of the project, local response teams will be established in Wellington City and Porirua and then in the Hutt Valley. An already established response team on the Kapiti Coast (see article above) will now be part of the regional service. These local response teams will be provided with training, supervision and de-briefing. The role of the Co-ordinator is to support the services already operating in the local community but also have the capacity to bring in other agencies where some specialist service is required.

While it will be a several months before the local response teams are fully operational, support to communities is available now from the Co-ordinator. Information meetings will be held throughout the region in March 2007 to provide more information about the service and to invite agencies to be part of the local response teams.

For further information about the Service or to be put on the mailing list contact the Regional Suicide Postvention Co-ordinator
Phone: 04 381-4867
Mobile: 027 273 4762
Email: Barry.Taylor@huttvalleydhb.org.nz

LivingWorks in New Zealand – ASIST Training in New Zealand

By Nettie Cullen, LivingWorks ASIST Trainer

Growing up in an active beach community in Australia I completed my bronze medallion – a lifesaving and first-aid qualification. When working to attain this competency I was trained to recognise when someone was in trouble in the water and to determine the kind of first-aid help they might need and then provide it. I don't remember being told any statistics about water safety and I don't think I thought much about the kinds of people who are at greater risk of drowning. But I do remember the emphasis that just because someone is a strong swimmer doesn't mean that they cannot drown.

There are many unknowns surrounding suicide and for that reason a lot of energy has gone into research which seeks to understand suicide rates and the reasons why people take their own lives. And we have learned a great deal, enabling the development of valuable prevention strategies targeting 'at risk' groups. Accordingly suicide intervention training has often concentrated on statistics and risk factors associated with suicidal behaviours. But the disturbing fact remains that there are people who do not fit any of the typical risk categories yet die by suicide. Similarly there are people who have many risk factors and do not suicide. This highlights the need for suicide intervention strategies, much like surf lifesaving strategies, which focus on the individual in crisis – recognising when someone is in trouble and determining the appropriate response. This involves much more than a knowledge of rates and risk factors but instead requires a connection with the person at risk, understanding their unique experience, and being able to offer assistance which is relevant to that individual. Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training (ASIST), developed by LivingWorks Education, is a training program that aims to equip participants to do just that.

LivingWorks includes a range of suicide intervention programs but is best known for the 2-day ASIST workshop. The workshop emphasises awareness of attitudes and encourages active participation. Participants frequently comment that the combination of theory and practice gives confidence and helps them feel more prepared to help. In addition the workshop becomes a place where personal connections and future cooperation is fostered. It is exciting to see people from a range of backgrounds and perspectives come together and identify shared hopes for their communities.

The New Zealand Suicide Prevention Strategy released last year (Associate Minister of Health, 2006) acknowledges that everyone has a role in suicide prevention. While mental health professionals are often considered to be the 'experts', it is more commonly the incidental helper – for example people working in education, forensic services, clergy, aged care, military, law enforcement as well as the general workplace – who are on the scene and in a position to hear cries for help. Therefore public awareness and community gatekeeper programs, as noted by Beautrais (2006), can be valuable in reducing the rate of suicide and suicidal behaviour.

The complex nature of suicide indicates that there is a need to develop a collaborative approach to suicide prevention. For those who participate in the training, LivingWorks provides a valuable forum for building knowledge and developing a readiness to assist. Since its introduction into New Zealand in 2004, the number of ASIST participants is nearing 1000. Workshops have been delivered all over the country from Kaitaia to Gore and interest continues to grow as people return to their communities and implement the skills they have learned. The goal in 2007 for LivingWorks in New Zealand is to continue to train and work with a wide range of organisations, including community groups, government departments, the defence force, local bodies, services clubs and the corporate sector. By creating learning experiences that equip communities to prevent suicide on a local level and support sustainable, life assisting resources, we will achieve the vision of enhancing resources today, saving lives for tomorrow.

For more information about LivingWorks in NZ and training dates contact Pam McQuoid at Lifeline Auckland on (09) 524 3080 or visit www.livingworks.org.nz

Nettie Cullen is a LivingWorks ASIST trainer and consultant psychologist working in private practice and tertiary education in Auckland.

References:
Associate Minister of Health (2006). New Zealand Suicide Prevention Strategy 2006-2016. Wellington: Ministry of Health
Beautrais, A. (2006). Guest Editorial : Suicide prevention strategies 2006. Australian e-Journal for the Advancement of Mental Health (AeJAMH), Volume 5, Issue 1

A visiting student's work on her thesis on youth suicide in New Zealand

By Heike Nebl, University of Regensburg, Germany, heike-anna@gmx.net

Why does a German student come to New Zealand to write her thesis about youth suicide? Sometimes even I wonder and ask myself the same question. For example, when I sit in front of my computer dealing with a complicated text in English about serotonergic receptor changes in the human brain or any other issue that would be complex enough to get the essence out of it in my mother language.

Well, mainly it was the growing interest during my training as a social worker for mental health issues, the work with young people during an internship and last, but not least, my interest in other cultures and my passion for travelling.

This is my second time in New Zealand and I truly love this beautiful country. It was hard for me to imagine why young people in a country that seems to offer anything you can hope for, find their lives not worth living anymore.

My first thought was, that this may have to do with a feeling of being isolated from the rest of the world, especially for young people somehow being connected with the whole world through TV and Internet. If you don't come from a middle class family, maybe you are not able to get out of your home country and see some more of the world. But that maybe, was my privileged sight of a person belonging to the 10% of the world population able to travel etc. Unfortunately there can be much bigger problems in the lives of young people than not being able to cross borders.

It seems like a lot of young New Zealanders have to deal with mental health problems, a disadvantaged family background, even family violence or maltreatment and fear for the future or not finding a job. Young Maori people may experience the alienation from their own culture, traditions and the connection with their whanau. Obviously before thinking about other places to go, it would be more important to know where you come from, what roots you have and who to identify yourself with.

The longer I write about youth suicide and the longer I think about the reasons, the more I realise what else I would like to know about it. Sometimes within the process of writing such a big essay, I got quite frustrated when I realised I still can't explain why the youth suicide rate is so high in New Zealand. There are so many reasons and, at the same time, none that may fully explain why young people "decide" to end their own lives.

There is a lot of research going on in New Zealand and a lot of work has been invested in the prevention strategies that hopefully will be implemented successfully.

In Germany suicide is still taboo, and not to be spoken about. Maybe my thesis is a very little part of speaking more openly about suicide.

Thank you especially to the SPINZ Team and the Mental Health Foundation for assisting people wanting to inform themselves about suicide or any mental health topic.

Deliberate Self-Harm behaviour: a selection of resources

Online:

New Zealand

Self-harm: New Zealand treatment guide for consumers and carers / The Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists, March 2005, 19 page booklet

Australia

Self Harm: An information booklet for young people who self harm and those who care for them / Logan-Beaudesert Mental Health Service, Queensland Health, 2006, 35 page booklet

Understanding self-harm / Ministerial Council for Suicide Prevention, Western Australia, Internet Resource

Coping by cutting, ABC Radio National programme transcript, including interview with Prof George Patton, 2006

UK

The truth about self-harm… for young people and their friends and families / Mental Health Foundation, UK, 2006, 29 page booklet

Understanding self-harm, Mind, 2005, 15 page booklet

Self-harm clinical guideline from NICE - National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence, UK, 2004

Canada

A closer look at self-harm / Centre for Suicide Prevention, Calgary, Canada, 2001, 2 page factsheet

Recent Books:

Hawton, K., Rodham, K., and Evans, E. (2006). By their own young hand: deliberate self-harm and suicidal ideas in adolescents, London : Jessica Kingsley.

Walsh, B. W. (2006). Treating self-injury: a practical guide, New York: Guilford Press.

Recent Research:

Dr George Patton - Adolescent self-harm, Presentation to SPINZ Symposium, Dunedin, Nov. 28, 2006

Centre for Suicide Research, University of Oxford, particularly the research led by Prof. Keith Hawton.

Burns, J., Dudley, M., Hazell, P., & Patton, G. (2005). Clinical management of deliberate self-harm in young people: the need for evidence-based approaches to reduce repetition. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry, 39(3), 121-128

Fortune, S.A., Hawton, K. (2005). Deliberate self-harm in children and adolescents: a research update. Current opinion in psychiatry, 18(4), 401-406. Full text online at Medscape.

Skegg, K. (2005). Self-harm. Lancet, 366(9495), 1471-1483. Department of Psychological Medicine, University of Otago Medical School. Literature review.

Nada-Raja, S. (2004). One in eight young adults have deliberately harmed themselves. New Zealand Injury Control bulletin, 30, 3.

New Zealand resource news and events

New Zealand research and reports 2006 - 2007 added to SPINZ Library - at March 2007

Latest research noted:

Beautrais, A. L. (2006). Review: Child Youth and Family: practices and processes in managing risks of suicide in residences.

Beautrais, A. L., Fergusson, D. M. (2006). A framework for selecting prevention approaches for the New Zealand Suicide Prevention Strategy.

Boden, J. M., Fergusson, D. M., & John Horwood, L. (2007). Anxiety disorders and suicidal behaviours in adolescence and young adulthood: findings from a longitudinal study.
Psychological Medicine, 37(3), 431-440.

Carter, M., McGee, R., Taylor, B., & Williams, S. (2007). Health outcomes in adolescence: associations with family, friends and school engagement.
Journal of Adolescence, 30(1), 51-62.

Didham, R., Dovey, S., & Reith, D. (2006). Characteristics of general practitioner consultations prior to suicide: a nested case-control study in New Zealand.
N Z Medical Journal, 119(1247), U2358.

Fergusson, D. M., Beautrais, A. L. (2006). New Zealand Suicide Prevention Strategy 2006-2016: advancing the Action Plan.

Fleming, T., Merry, S.N., Robinson, E.M., Denny, S.J., Watson, P.D. (2007). Self-reported suicide attempts and associated risk and protective factors among secondary school students in New Zealand.
Australian and New Zealand journal of psychiatry, 41, 213-221

Fortune, S. (2006). An examination of cutting and other methods of DSH among children and adolescents presenting to an outpatient psychiatric clinic in New Zealand.
Clinical Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 11(3), 407-416.

Fortune, S., Clarkson, H. (2006). The role of child and adolescent mental health services in suicide prevention in New Zealand.
Australasian psychiatry : bulletin of Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists. 14(4), 369-373

Penfold, A., Hatcher, S., Sullivan, S., Collins, N. (2006). Gambling problems and attempted suicide. – two articles:
Part I. High prevalence amongst hospital admissions
& Part 2. Alcohol abuse increases suicide risk.
International Journal of Mental Health and Addiction, 4(3), 265-279.

Purvis, D., Robinson, E., Merry, S., & Watson, P. (2006). Acne, anxiety, depression and suicide in teenagers: a cross-sectional survey of New Zealand secondary school students. Journal of Paediatrics and Child Health, 42(12), 793-796.

National Depression Campaign

www.depression.org.nz helpline 0800 111 757

NZPA image - Former All Black John Kirwan received a gift of a wooden bowl inlaid with paua shells, from MP Jim Anderton for his work on making people aware of depression via his TV ad campaign, Parliament, Thursday, March 01, 2007

The National Depression campaign is being run in partnership with the Ministry of Health, launched on October 10 2006, with television advertisements going to air. There are print resources, a website, an 0800 information phone line, public awareness activities, and a radio presence through the summer 2006/7.

An evaluation of the advertising campaign was published in November: "National depression Initiative advertising campaign: initial response to first campaign."

The depression website, is always looking for personal stories from people with experience of depression (especially from men!). So if anyone enters into a conversation with you about the depression campaign, as a result of this exposure, we'd appreciate it if you could encourage these stories. They can be sent to Alex Stone alex@mentalhealth.org.nz. By only using first names on the website, the privacy of the writers is protected.

New Postnatal Depression Brochure
New Zealand's leading maternity wear company EGG has partnered with the Mental Health Foundation of New Zealand to tackle PND, with the development of this new brochure. To order copies, call the Mental Health Foundation Resource Centre on (09) 300 7030 or email susan@mentalhealth.org.nz.
To download the pdf version, click here

Latest Like Minds like mine newsletter – Feb 2007 issue is available.

2007 National Provider Seminar, Like Minds like mine, will be in Hamilton, on 21 and 22 March, enquiries to Shaughan Woodcock, ph 09 300 7019 or shaughan@mentalhealth.org.nz

Inaugural New Zealand Mental Health Media Grants Programme. The Mental Health Foundation and Like Minds Like Mine have launched a new media grants programme that replaces the Carter Center Fellowships, which were offered to journalists in New Zealand from 2001 to 2006. The New Zealand Mental Health Media Grants offer a total grant pool of $50,000 with grants of up to $12,000 in each category, website www.mediagrants.org.nz

See www.nzaahd.org.nz

IP News a two monthly e-newsletter and a collaboration between the New Zealand Injury Prevention Strategy Secretariat, Injury Prevention Network Aotearoa New Zealand, the Safe Communities Foundation New Zealand and Sandra James.

The Injury Prevention Research Centre, School of Population Health, University of Auckland, now has its Resource database online.

"Largest ever trial of problem solving therapy in attempted suicide being done in New Zealand" by Dr Simon Hatcher, report in New Zealand Injury Control bulletin, Issue 37, March 2007, page 11.

New listing: Men, Women and Grief Home Care organisation, Browns Bay, Auckland, www.grief.org.nz ph 09 4766947.

The NZ Guidelines Group has received funding from the Ministry of Health for the preparation of an evidence-based guideline to help primary care practitioners identify and manage depression and other associated mental health problems. There is no current guideline on the management of depression in primary care in New Zealand, though specific guidelines for the management of depression in specialist care have been published by The Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists.

Upcoming Christchurch Conference
6th Australia and New Zealand Youth Health Conference
Research into Practice, Evidence into Policy
24-26 September 2007
Hotel Grand Chancellor
Christchurch see www.collaborative.org.nz

Caring for the Carers Summit, Te Papa, Wellington, April 12 and 13, see www.carers.net.nz, "one in five New Zealanders support someone who is frail, aged, sick, injured, disabled, or experiencing a mental illness."

New resiliency resource added to SPINZ Library:

"When the going is tough: a review of literature about youth resilience", research by Frank Pega, The Sexual Health Hauraki Working Party, a collaboration between Waikato Primary Health, Te Korowai Hauora O Hauraki, and Waikato DHB, Part 1 looks at resilience, its history, concept and theory, and in Part 2, interventions and practical implications (42 pages).

Australian resource news and events

Fairweather, A. K., Anstey, K. J., Rodgers, B., Jorm, A. F., & Christensen, H. (2007). Age and gender differences among Australian suicide ideators: prevalence and correlates. Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, 195(2), 130-136.
"Contrary to clinical and popular views, our results highlight that proximal non-mental health variables such as employment, physical health, social factors, and personality are equally important to experiencing suicidal ideation as symptoms of psychological distress" – from abstract

Headey, A. et al. (2006). A review of 156 local projects funded under Australia's National Suicide Prevention Strategy: overview and lessons learned. Australian e-Journal for the Advancement of Mental Health (AeJAMH), 5,(3) – (full text access)

New "Helping someone at risk of suicide" brochure from Australian Government, see media release.

MindMatters evaluation 2000-2005
MindMatters is a resource and professional development program to support Australian secondary schools in promoting and protecting the social and emotional wellbeing of members of school communities.

A new dvd for men about a men's support group, see the website www.fathersandson.com.au
A three minute clip from the dvd is also available on YouTube
A copy of the dvd is held in the SPINZ Library.

The Medical Journal of Australia of 16 Oct 2006, has a number of articles on men's heath and wellbeing, these are all online, click here.

Morrell, S., Page, A. N., & Taylor, R. J. (2007). The decline in Australian young male suicide. Social Science & Medicine, 64(3), 747-754.
"The suicide rate among young Australian men halved between 1997 and 2003, and a major government youth suicide prevention program may be at least partly responsible for the dramatic drop." See also University of Sydney news release and related audio on ABC Health Minutes.

The Sydney Statement of the National Forum on Men & Suicide, 2 - 3 May 2006 - Meeting the challenge, Sydney, Suicide Prevention Australia (SPA), 5 pages.

A blue print for the future: developing a national vision: "In one generation: suicide will no longer exist as a health risk for men", Suicide Prevention Australia (SPA) and Crisis Support Services, Mensline Australia, Sept. 2006. From the national forum convened in Sydney on May 2nd and 3rd, 2006, 24 pages.

Mindframe News issues 1 and 2

The Mindframe Media and Mental Health (MMMH) project is one of a suite of projects on suicide, mental illness and the media developed as part of the Australian national media strategy . The MMMH project is coordinated by the Hunter Institute of Mental Health in partnership with the Australian Network for Promotion, Prevention and Early Intervention for Mental Health (Auseinet), SANE Australia and two Indigenous consultants. It aims to build a collaborative relationship with the Australian media and mental health systems to enable a more accurate and sensitive portrayal of suicide and mental health issues across all news media in Australia.

The BRAVE Programme - treatment programme for adolescents 13-17 suffering from anxiety, a collaboration between The University of Queensland, and Macqaurie University.

No One Is An Island – You Are NOT Alone has been a project to promote depression awareness and access to mental health care services among young people from Pacific communities in the Mt Druitt and surrounding areas, NSW.

A key activity of the project has been the development and distribution of a depression awareness poster and pamphlet information resources available in English and three Pacific community languages - Fijian, Samoan and Tongan. – Sydney West Area Health services and Pacific communities in Blacktown/Mt Druitt.

International resource news and events

A selection of latest research:

Access to means
Ajdacic-Gross, V., M. Killias, et al. (2006). Changing times: a longitudinal analysis of international firearm suicide data. American Journal of Public Health 96(10): 1752-5.
"Legislation and regulatory measures reducing the availability of firearms in private households can distinctly strengthen the prevention of firearm suicides." – from abstract

After a suicide
Mitchell, A. M., Wesner, S., Garand, L., Gale, D. D., Havill, A., & Brownson, L. (2007). A support group intervention for children bereaved by parental suicide. Journal of Child & Adolescent Psychiatric Nursing, 20(1), 3-13.
University of Pittsburgh, School of Nursing.

Antidepressants
Gibbons, R. D., Hur, K., Bhaumik, D. K., & Mann, J. J. (2006). The relationship between antidepressant prescription rates and rate of early adolescent suicide. American Journal of Psychiatry, 163(11), 1898-1904. Finds that increasing rates of antidepressant use among adolescents, produced lower rates of suicide. In an editorial in the same issue of the journal, Gregory Simon reviews this article and other conflicting findings, and concludes that if giving advice to those who are starting antidepressant medication (p. 1862):

"The Food and Drug Administration requires a warning that antidepressant medications can sometimes cause or increase thoughts of suicide. Studies in children and adolescents have shown that antidepressants can increase suicidal thoughts. However, other studies have shown that the overall risk of attempting suicide goes down after starting antidepressant medication. Even if antidepressants help most people who take them, some people may have very negative reactions. Thus it is important that we have regular contact over the next few weeks. If you have thoughts about suicide or about harming yourself, please contact me right away."

See also Simon, G. E. (2006). The antidepressant quandary--considering suicide risk when treating adolescent depression. New England Journal of Medicine, 355(26), 2722-2723.

Elderly suicide
Chan, J., Draper, B., & Banerjee, S. (2007). Deliberate self-harm in older adults: a review of the literature from 1995 to 2004. International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry.
"The prevention of suicide is a national and international policy priority. Old age is an important predictor of completed suicide. Suicide rates in old age differ markedly from country to country but there is a general trend towards increasing rates with increasing age. In 1996 Draper reviewed critically the evidence on attempted suicide in old age in the 10 years between 1985 and 1994. The review highlighted a need for prospective controlled studies in older people with more representative samples as well as studies examining the interaction of risk factors, precipitants, motivations, psychopathology and response to treatment. The aim of this paper is to update this review and to summarise the advances in our understanding of DSH in later life" – from abstract.

Dennis, M., Baillon, S., Brugha, T., Lindesay, J., Stewart, R., & Meltzer, H. (2007). The spectrum of suicidal ideation in Great Britain: comparisons across a 16-74 years age range. Psychological Medicine, 1-11.
"Suicidal ideation was up to three times commoner in younger adults than in those aged 55-74 years but the odds of depression in those with suicidal thoughts was significantly greater in the older age group." – from abstract.

Erlangsen, A., Zarit, S. H., Tu, X., & Conwell, Y. (2006). Suicide among older psychiatric inpatients: an evidence-based study of a high-risk group. American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, 14(9), 734-741.

Pearson, Jane L. (2006). Editorial: Progress in identifying risk and protective factors in older suicidal adults. American journal of geriatric psychiatry, 14(9), 721-723.

Tadros, G., & Salib, E. (2006). Elderly suicide in primary care. International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry.
"This study examines the nature of complaints and timing of presentation to general practitioners by suicide victims in their last GP consultation, comparing persons aged 65 and over with those aged between 18 and 64." – from abstract.

Males at risk (see also under Australian resources)
Middleton, N., J. A. Sterne, et al. (2006). The geography of despair among 15-44-year-old men in England and Wales: putting suicide on the map. Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, 60(12): 1040-7.

Media reporting
Cheng, A. T., Hawton, K., Chen, T. H., Yen, A. M., Chang, J. C., Chong, M. Y., et al. (2007). The influence of media reporting of a celebrity suicide on suicidal behavior in patients with a history of depressive disorder. Journal of Affective Disorders, Feb. 19
Examines the effects of extensive media coverage of the suicide of a famous television actor in Taiwan in 2005, and adds to the research showing the harmful results of poor media reporting of suicide.

Risk factors
Cain, A. C. (2006). Parent suicide: pathways of effects into the third generation. Psychiatry 69(3): 204-27.
University of Michigan, The Family Styles Project for Children and Families Under Stress.

Enns, M. W., B. J. Cox, et al. (2006). Childhood adversities and risk for suicidal ideation and attempts: a longitudinal population-based study. Psychological Medicine, 36(12): 1769-78.

Heider, D. et al. (2007). Parental bonding and suicidality in adulthood, Australian and New Zealand journal of psychiatry, 41, 66-73.
From the European Study of Epidemiology of Mental Disorders project, this study found associations between low maternal and paternal care on the one hand and suicidality on the other – from abstract.

Oquendo, M. A., M. E. Bongiovi-Garcia, et al. (2007). Sex differences in clinical predictors of suicidal acts after major depression: a prospective study. American Journal of Psychiatry, 164(1): 134-41.
"findings suggest that the importance of risk factors for suicidal acts differs in depressed men and women" – from abstract.

Rehkopf, D. H. and S. L. Buka (2006). The association between suicide and the socio-economic characteristics of geographical areas: a systematic review. Psychological Medicine, 36(2): 145-57.
"Resources for suicide prevention should be targeted to high poverty / deprivation and high unemployment areas." – from abstract.

Suicide attempt behaviour
Christiansen, E., Jensen, B. F. (2007). Risk of repetition of suicide attempt, suicide or all deaths after an episode of attempted suicide: a register-based survival analysis. Australian and New Zealand journal of psychiatry, 41, 257-265.
A Danish study, examining the characteristics of this high risk group.

Kapur, N., Cooper, J., King-Hele, S., Webb, R., Lawlor, M., Rodway, C., et al. (2006). The repetition of suicidal behavior: a multicenter cohort study. The Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, 67(10), 1599-1609.
Centre for Suicide Prevention, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioural Sciences, University of Manchester, UK.
A study in 4 large hospitals in North West England. "The repetition of suicidal behavior is common and occurs quickly. On a population level, our study suggests that the most important strategies to reduce repetition might include primary prevention of suicidal behavior, targeting psychiatric illness, and tackling social factors such as unemployment. Specific interventions may be required for individual subgroups." – from abstract.

Youth suicidal behaviour
Brent, D. A. and J. J. Mann (2006). "Familial pathways to suicidal behavior--understanding and preventing suicide among adolescents" New England Journal of Medicine, 355(26): 2719-21. (full text access)

Brunstein Klomek, A., F. Marrocco, et al. (2007). Bullying, depression, and suicidality in adolescents. Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 46(1): 40-9.
"A self-report survey was completed by 9th through 12th-grade students (n = 2342) in six New York State high schools from 2002 through 2004. Frequent exposure to victimization or bullying others was related to high risks of depression, ideation, and suicide attempts compared with adolescents not involved in bullying behavior. Infrequent involvement in bullying behavior also was related to increased risk of depression and suicidality, particularly among girls." – from abstract.

Fortune, S., A. Stewart, et al. (2006). Suicide in adolescents: Using life charts to understand the suicidal process. Journal of Affective Disorders, Dec. 18

Thompson, M. P., Ho, C. H., & Kingree, J. B. (2007). Prospective associations between delinquency and suicidal behaviors in a nationally representative sample. Journal of Adolescent Health, 40(3), 232-237.
From the USA National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health, this study shows that delinquency is related to risk for suicidal ideation even after accounting for well-known risk factors like depression and impulsivity, and that it is stronger in girls than boys – editorial by David Brent, in same issue.

14th World Congress IASP – International Association for Suicide Prevention, Killarney, Ireland, 28 Aug to 1 Sept 2007, "Preventing suicide across the life span: dreams and realities". This is also the theme of World Suicide Prevention Day, 10 Sept. 2007, see www.iasp1960.org

 

Guidance on action to be taken at suicide hotspots. England, National Institute for Mental Health in England, 2006.
"This best practice guide has been developed to:
1. support the development of effective collaboration by local multi-agency suicide prevention groups;
2. assist such groups to identify particular places within their local area that are 'hotspots' for suicide and to take appropriate steps to improve safety and deter acts of suicide at those locations;
3. contribute to the implementation of the National Suicide Prevention Strategy for England and to achieve an overall reduction in suicides, in line with the target set out in the White Paper Saving Lives: Our Healthier Nation (Department of Health, 1999)."

Cullen, John. Meanings, messages + myths: the coverage and treatment of suicide in the Irish print media. Ireland, Health Service Executive, 2006, 104 pages

"Needless goodbye: A young widow wants you to know about suicide prevention" – a moving story by a suicide survivor featured in the Seattle Times, USA