Citation

Sher L. Acta Psychiatr. Scand. 2019; 140(1): 3-4.

Affiliation

Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2019, John Wiley and Sons)

DOI

10.1111/acps.13060

PMID

31215032

Abstract

A lot of dedicated clinicians and clever researchers are involved in suicide prevention and research. However, suicide remains a significant public health problem throughout the world. Suicide rates are high in many countries. Almost one million people die by suicide every year around the world. An additional 10 million to 20 million people make non‐lethal suicide attempts. Suicidal behavior has a significant impact on communities and societies. Despite this, relatively little advancement has been made in the scientific understanding or treatment of suicidal behavior.

Prediction and prevention of suicide are a very challenging task. Even under the best circumstances, the attempted prediction of a rare behavior such as suicide produces a lot of false‐positive and false‐negative cases. Besides, the prediction of suicidal behavior is based on vague criteria that are comparatively poor at predicting the behavior of a given person. Predicting suicide at the level of individual patient is not possible at the present time, even among high‐risk psychiatric patients. We need new, innovative approaches to suicide research and prevention.

Resilience building is an example of an intervention that may reduce suicide deaths. Resilience defined as the ability to adapt well in the face of stress and adversity is a critical protective factor against suicide

Language: en