Rethinking suicide prevention with Dr. Craig Bryan

We are excited to welcome Craig Bryan, PsyD, ABPP as our next Mind Matters speaker!

Dr. Bryan, renowned suicidologist and trauma psychologist, will challenge current wisdom on suicide prevention and propose alternative perspectives to guide suicide prevention efforts at our next Mind Matters meeting on September 24, 2024.

By the conclusion of the meeting, participants will understand the relationship between mental health conditions and suicide, the multiple pathways model of suicide, and be able to identify the five levels of the prevention through design model.

If you have a case you'd like to share for consultation and support at this or a future Mind Matters meeting, please email Anitha Iyer, PhD, Course Director.

Remember that you can view recordings and slides of previous meetings on our website. Past meetings have covered treating depression and anxiety in primary care, substance use, eating and feeding disorders, and more.

Most recently, Dr. Eyal Shemesh spoke about the challenges and limitations in routine depression screening.

Requiring less than 30 minutes to complete, Crisis Response Planning (CRP) is a brief intervention in which patient and clinician collaboratively identify the patient’s personal warning signs and self-regulatory strategies for coping with emotional distress and suicidality. Research has shown that CRP can significantly and rapidly reduce suicidal ideation and attempts.

Use this printable CRP template from the VA with your patients, or explore other brief, evidence-based interventions for managing suicidality.

Collaborative patient-clinician relationships matter when it comes to suicide prevention

Clinical approaches to suicide assessment vary widely, but are often focused risk prediction – identifying which patients are most likely to attempt suicide and perform interventions accordingly. The appeal of such screeners are understandable, but have poor predictive value in actually identifying which patients will die by suicide. While 95% of “high risk” patients will not die by suicide, 50% of deaths by suicide are from “low risk” patients. Alternative approaches, known as a therapeutic assessment approach or a narrative approach, emphasize the importance of building a collaborative, context-aware patient-provider relationship.

A new randomized clinical trial found that interventions involving higher patient-clinical collaboration reduces suicide risk and can enhance safety planning-type interventions. The trial further found that narrative assessment paired with either a Safety Plan Intervention or a Crisis Response Plan reduced suicidal thoughts.

Read more

See also: A Holistic Approach to Suicide Prevention: Screening Limitations and Implications for Primary Care Providers by Amy Bennett-Staub on the MSHP Behavioral Health Blog

For many patients, a visit with their primary care physician is a chance to access needed medical care and is an ideal setting for suicide prevention. By knowing the warning signs and risk factors for suicide, you can help prevent suicide attempts and address risk factors early on. 

Click on the suicide prevention tile on the Behavioral Health Hub and select a topic to learn more.

Ensure your patients are aware that their insurance provider must cover behavioral health benefits with no session caps. This quick guide explains how to find treatment and services and includes information about understanding insurance coverage and benefits.

Epic users can include this information as part of the After Visit Summary by using dot phrase .behavioralhealthresourceguide.

It's no secret that there is high stigma surrounding mental health which can be incredibly harmful to people living with mental health conditions and interfere with their treatment and recovery.

The CDC offers a variety of provider resources on mental health literacy, including a CME course from the University of Texas at Austin on stigma-free communication about mental health.

Spanish language resources from the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)

NIMH has patient-friendly information about a variety of mental health topics in Spanish. Share this information with Spanish-speaking patients to help them understand any relevant topics or diagnoses.

Information to share with your patients: living with chronic illness