Suicide

Personality disorders are arguably the most challenging for psychiatrists because they are difficult to diagnose and frequently coexist with psychotic, affective, and anxiety disorders.

Suicide contagion and clusters are more likely among young people in contained communities such as college campuses.

Could right-to-die laws result in people requesting death, even in the face of of potentially treatable health problems?

What is the most common method of suicide in the US?

The challenges in providing mental health care to the college community are significant. Here's a brief look at the issues.

Psychiatrists can provide significant support and insight to patients who are now coming to campus with a wide array of mental health challenges.

On the heavy cost of savage warfare and its aftermath.

Although college students are in many ways similar to any patient in their age group, their environment and stressors differ in significant ways. The authors identify issues to consider in assessing and managing suicidality in this population.

To honor him beyond his professional skills, let us learn some important medical lessons from the life and death of Robin Williams.

Psychiatrists should not be afraid to assess parenting issues and other stressors when treating depressed or psychotic parents of young children.

All psychiatrists know the risk factors for suicide. Among the newest modifiable risk factors to join the list are insomnia and nightmares.

Twenty years ago, it was rare for college students to mention suicidal thoughts, and even more rare to involve parents in their care. Today, students are more likely to describe suicidal ideation, necessitating a more thorough safety assessment with potential outreach to parents.

Impulsivity has long been thought to be an important risk factor for depression and suicide. But recent research suggests that the reality might actually be counterintuitive.

Suicide and self-harm are often linked to impulsivity, but what do empirical evaluations of this link actually show? This association is discussed and challenged in this article.

The authors summarize findings from the first study to compare suicide risk for veterans who do and those who do not use VA services.

A story of what can happen (and has happened) when the expertise of a psychiatrist is not followed in complex cases that involve substance use and other disorders.

Over the past 10 years, a growing literature has documented the significantly increased rates of stress, burnout, depression, and suicidal ideation in medical students.

What’s the prudent way to react if a layperson is suddenly tapped to help get psychiatric care for somebody who says he desperately and immediately needs it-or else?

Loneliness, substance abuse, dating violence, and hopelessness, are just some of the risk factors for suicide, which remains the second leading cause of death for college students.

The author offers a brief commentary in response to feedback from readers of a previously published case.

Several recent publications are informative to clinicians on the topic of suicide in children and adolescents. Some of the most salient findings are reviewed here.

In this article, the author covers some basic mapractice concepts and briefly address 2 key issues that frequently arise in the course of psychiatric malpractice litigation: documentation and the defendant psychiatrist’s deposition.

College mental health is not just a matter of identifying problems but also of creating a community of students, families, friends, mental health professionals, faculty advisors, and many others to help students gain psychological resiliency.

The loss of control over urges and behaviors may be the central component of gambling disorders, but there is so much more to consider. Individuals with these problems have exponentially higher rates of suicide attempts and completions.

Professions, psychiatry included, do not have a stellar record of protecting those they serve. Do we have reason to believe that professional organizations or corporate entities can be trusted to protect their clientele?

“I may never know who you are,” writes this psychiatrist, “but if you provided medical or psychiatric care for the co-pilot of Germanwings Flight 9525, we are colleagues. And you too are his victims, of sorts. I hope your reputation does not suffer unduly.”

The recent tragedy with the Germanwings crash in the Alps has started a worldwide discussion about mental illness and suicide. NIMH Director Thomas Insel reflects on the larger issues we continue to face.

The authors differentiate between 3 types of deliberate self-harm: nonsuicidal self-injury, culturally sanctioned body modifications (tattooing or body piercing), and unintentional or accidental injury.

The authors review mechanisms of suicide and the effectiveness of current treatments, and zero in on ketamine--a potential novel, rapidly acting treatment for suicidality.

Take the ethics quiz about a cognitively intact, highly intelligent patient with good ego strength and coping skills who plans to commit suicide.