Citation

Runyan CW, Brown TL, Brooks-Russell A. Am. J. Orthopsychiatry 2015; 85(3): 221-224.

Affiliation

Department of Community and Behavioral Health, Colorado School of Public Health.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2015, American Orthopsychiatric Association, Publisher Wiley Blackwell)

DOI

10.1037/ort0000065

PMID

25985108

Abstract

There is an underappreciation among the general public and among health professionals that firearms are implicated in just over half of all suicide deaths. Suicide attempts with firearms are much more lethal than attempts using other methods, with more than 85% of individuals using a firearm dying compared to 2% for individuals using poisoning, 31% by jumping, and 69% by hanging. There is a well-researched and clear connection between access to firearms in the home and an increased risk of firearm suicide of a family member. Additionally, it has long been demonstrated that states and cities with fewer guns have fewer suicides. Consequently, to move forward in preventing firearm suicides, we must first overcome the lack of understanding and find effective and socially and politically acceptable preventive interventions. The remainder of this article focuses on a suggested framework to help with that task. (PsycINFO Database Record

Language: en