September SMI Research Digest: Suicide Prevention Month  

Welcome to the inaugural SMI Research Digest, our new monthly publication that summarizes recently published research on topics related to severe mental illness (SMI). September is National Suicide Prevention Month, a heavy month for our community. As many as 1 in 4 people with SMI attempt suicide at some point in their lives. However, people with SMI are often excluded from suicide research. This month’s digest highlights recent research on interventions to decrease suicide and self-harm among people with severe mental illness. 

Early intervention services for psychosis reduce suicide and self-harm. A recent study published in JAMA explored the effectiveness of early intervention services for psychosis among a wide age range of adults and found that these services were effective at reducing self-harm and suicide rates among all age groups, including those who would typically be age-restricted from participating in early intervention services. Early intervention services for people experiencing their first episode of psychosis have been shown to meaningfully improve long-term clinical and functional outcomes, including suicidality. However, these programs are often restricted to young adults, which may leave the 52% of people who experience the onset of their illness after age 25 without access to these important interventions.  

Emergency department intervention for suicide prevention improves outcomes for bipolar disorder. This study from the Journal of Affective Disorders focuses on suicide prevention among people with SMI who had attempted suicide or experienced active suicidal ideation in the week before visiting the emergency department. Participants were given the Coping Long Term with Active Suicide Program; an intervention where care providers collaborate with participants to identify goals for the future, develop safety plans, and encourage treatment engagement through case management, psychotherapy, and optional family involvement. The study found that people with bipolar disorder who received this intervention had a lower rate of suicide than those who did not. However, people with schizophrenia did not see these same improvements. 

There are many unknowns about the best ways to prevent suicide among people with severe mental illness. In a call for research published in Frontiers in Psychiatry, researchers summarize several of the most critical gaps in our understanding of best practices for suicide prevention among people with psychotic disorders. They emphasize the need to recruit participants who have varying levels of symptom severity and diagnoses; test the effectiveness of existing suicide assessment tools among people with psychosis; and consider the impact of positive and negative symptoms on suicide risk. They also recommend testing existing suicide prevention interventions among people with psychotic disorders and developing new interventions specifically for this population.  
 

​​​​​SMI Research Digest is a monthly public service by TAC that highlights new, impactful research on topics related to severe mental illness. ​​​​​​If you would like to support TAC programs and publications please consider making a donation today.