A qualitative study of military service members undergoing medical separation.

OBJECTIVE: Little research explores military perspectives on medical disability-related transition. A qualitative study sought to understand transition experiences of United States military Service members found unfit for duty following medical and physical evaluation boards (MEBs and PEBs). METHODS: Confidential telephone interviews were conducted with 25 current and prior Service members. Participants were asked to share their experiences before, during, and after the MEB and PEB processes. Interview questions explored (1) health conditions that prompted the medical disability evaluation, (2) reactions to being recommended for separation, (3) transition-related stress and challenges, and (4) coping strategies. Salient themes were identified across chronological narratives. RESULTS: Participants expressed that debilitating physical (e.g., injury) and/or mental (e.g., post-traumatic stress disorder) illnesses prompted their medical evaluation. In response to the unfit for duty notice, some participants reported emotional distress (e.g., anxiety, anger) connected to uncertainty about the future. Other participants reported relief connected to a sense of progression toward their medical disability claim status. Transition stress included the length of the MEB/PEB process, impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the process, financial stress, impact on family life, and compounded effect of these stressors on emotional distress, including depression and suicidal thoughts. Participants reported using adaptive (e.g., psychotherapy) and maladaptive (e.g., excessive drinking) strategies to cope with stress. CONCLUSION: Preliminary reports of emotional distress and transition stress following unfit for duty notices highlight the need for increased support and interventions to facilitate adaptive coping strategies during this vulnerable period.

Suicide Notes, Attempts, and Attempt Lethality During Episodes of Ideation Among Suicidal Soldiers and Marines.

OBJECTIVE: Suicide remains a significant public health problem among military personnel despite expanded suicide prevention efforts over the last two decades. It is important to understand the behavioral antecedents of suicide, including the writing of a suicide note, to inform efforts to identify imminent risk. However, the completion of a suicide note increasing the likelihood of making a suicide attempt (SA) and predicting a higher lethality SA during episodes of suicidality have not been evaluated. METHOD: To determine whether or not the completion of a suicide note increased the likelihood of making a SA during a given episode of suicidal ideation (current or worst) and predicted a higher lethality SA, we conducted secondary data analysis with a sample of 657 help-seeking, active-duty U.S. Soldiers and Marines. We hypothesized that service members who completed a suicide note would be more likely to make a SA during that given episode of suicidality and make a higher lethality SA. RESULTS: Completion of a suicide note increased the likelihood of making a SA in both current and worst episodes of suicidal ideation. Additionally, writing a suicide note predicted making a higher lethality SA during a service member's current episode of ideation but not their worst episode. CONCLUSIONS: This is the first study to examine note-writing behavior during episodes of suicidal ideation rather than following a suicide death or attempt, demonstrating a non-trivial number (17%) had written a suicide note and this increased the likelihood of making a SA and a higher lethality SA.HIGHLIGHTSThe first study of suicide notes during periods of ideation regardless of attempt.A suicide note written during an episode of ideation predicted making an attempt.A suicide note predicted making a more lethal suicide attempt.

Reducing short term suicide risk after hospitalization: A randomized controlled trial of the Collaborative Assessment and Management of Suicidality.

BACKGROUND: This study compared the "next day appointment" (NDA) use of the Collaborative Assessment and Management of Suicidality (CAMS) to treatment as usual (TAU) for individuals discharged from the hospital following a suicide-related crisis. We hypothesized that CAMS would significantly reduce suicidal thoughts and behaviors as well as improve psychological distress, quality of life/overall functioning, treatment retention and patient satisfaction. METHODS: Participants were 150 individuals who had at least one lifetime actual, aborted, or interrupted attempt and were admitted following a suicide-related crisis. There were 75 participants in the experimental condition who received adherent CAMS and 75 participants who received TAU. Suicidal thoughts and behaviors, psychological distress, and quality of life/overall functioning were assessed at baseline and at 1, 3, 6, and 12 months post-baseline. Treatment retention and patient satisfaction were assessed at post-treatment. RESULTS: Participants in both conditions improved from baseline to 12 months but CAMS was not superior to TAU for the primary outcomes. A small but significant improvement was found in probability of suicidal ideation at 3 months favoring TAU and amount of suicidal ideation at 12 months favoring CAMS. CAMS participants experienced less psychological distress at 12 months compared to baseline. LIMITATIONS: The study was limited by only one research clinic, lower than expected recruitment, and imbalance of suicidal ideation at baseline. CONCLUSIONS: All participants improved but CAMS was not more effective than TAU. The NDA clinic was feasible and acceptable to clients and staff in both conditions and future research should investigate its potential benefit.

Perceived Utility and Characterization of Personal Google Search Histories to Detect Data Patterns Proximal to a Suicide Attempt in Individuals Who Previously Attempted Suicide: Pilot Cohort Study.

BACKGROUND: Despite decades of research to better understand suicide risk and to develop detection and prevention methods, suicide is still one of the leading causes of death globally. While large-scale studies using real-world evidence from electronic health records can identify who is at risk, they have not been successful at pinpointing when someone is at risk. Personalized social media and online search history data, by contrast, could provide an ongoing real-world datastream revealing internal thoughts and personal states of mind. OBJECTIVE: We conducted this study to determine the feasibility and acceptability of using personalized online information-seeking behavior in the identification of risk for suicide attempts. METHODS: This was a cohort survey study to assess attitudes of participants with a prior suicide attempt about using web search data for suicide prevention purposes, dates of lifetime suicide attempts, and an optional one-time download of their past web searches on Google. The study was conducted at the University of Washington School of Medicine Psychiatry Research Offices. The main outcomes were participants' opinions on internet search data for suicide prediction and intervention and any potential change in online information-seeking behavior proximal to a suicide attempt. Individualized nonparametric association analysis was used to assess the magnitude of difference in web search data features derived from time periods proximal (7, 15, 30, and 60 days) to the suicide attempts versus the typical (baseline) search behavior of participants. RESULTS: A total of 62 participants who had attempted suicide in the past agreed to participate in the study. Internet search activity varied from person to person (median 2-24 searches per day). Changes in online search behavior proximal to suicide attempts were evident up to 60 days before attempt. For a subset of attempts (7/30, 23%) search features showed associations from 2 months to a week before the attempt. The top 3 search constructs associated with attempts were online searching patterns (9/30 attempts, 30%), semantic relatedness of search queries to suicide methods (7/30 attempts, 23%), and anger (7/30 attempts, 23%). Participants (40/59, 68%) indicated that use of this personalized web search data for prevention purposes was acceptable with noninvasive potential interventions such as connection to a real person (eg, friend, family member, or counselor); however, concerns were raised about detection accuracy, privacy, and the potential for overly invasive intervention. CONCLUSIONS: Changes in online search behavior may be a useful and acceptable means of detecting suicide risk. Personalized analysis of online information-seeking behavior showed notable changes in search behavior and search terms that are tied to early warning signs of suicide and are evident 2 months to 7 days before a suicide attempt.

Prehospital Patient Care Protocols for Suicidality in Washington State.

BACKGROUND: Patients with suicidal thoughts and behavior represent a growing proportion of patients who present for Emergency Department care. Many of these patients arrive via ambulance. Several brief suicide- or self-harm-specific interventions have been developed for implementation in the Emergency Department setting. However, there is a dearth of training resources, patient care guidelines, and policy guidance to assist prehospital care providers in the treatment of EMS patients who are suicidal. We evaluated prehospital patient care protocols in Washington State to assess for the presence-absence of any suicide and/or self-harm specific protocols, as well as the inclusion of procedures above and beyond conventional approaches to scene safety and transport to the Emergency Department. METHODS: Prehospital patient care protocols were obtained for all counties in Washington State. Researchers rated protocols across seven domains, including the mention of any suicide- or self-harm-specific procedures. RESULTS: Approximately one-third of counties had any suicide- or self-harm-specific content in prehospital patient care protocols. There was no association between county-level rurality-urbanicity and the presence-absence of suicide- or self-harm-specific care. CONCLUSION: These findings demonstrated that little guidance exists for EMS providers in Washington State with regard to the screening or treatment of suicidal patients, above and beyond scene safety and transportation to hospital-based care. Development of guidelines for prehospital suicide care, as well as enhanced screening, assessment, and collaboration with on-call crisis resources has the potential to expand the scope of prehospital treatment for suicidal patients, and reduce burdens on patients, EMS providers, and Emergency Departments.

Murder-Suicides Perpetrated by Adolescents: Findings from the National Violent Death Reporting System.

OBJECTIVE: Murder-suicide is a rare and especially tragic form of violence. Nascent literature has characterized murder-suicide perpetrated by adults, but no study has focused on adolescents who perpetrated murder-suicide. METHOD: This study evaluated all cases of murder-suicide perpetrated by persons under age 21 who were included in the National Violent Death Reporting System, and categorized each incident using Joiner's perversion of virtue framework of murder-suicide. RESULTS: Forty-seven incidents of murder-suicide perpetrated by adolescents were identified, representing 56 victims. Most cases did not have sufficient information to be categorized within a particular perversion of virtue. Among the 20 cases who did have sufficient detail to be categorized, incidents were identified as perversions of self-control (n = 11), justice (n = 8), and mercy (n = 1). Most perpetrators were male, and the majority of victims were female. Additional victim, perpetrator, and incident characteristics are described. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings extend previous work by employing a coding system based on a theoretically derived framework for categorizing "genuine" murder-suicide and related behavior among adolescents. This study also characterized the nature of this complex and tragic sequence of behavior among adolescents, who are at elevated risk of suicide, and who may benefit from prevention efforts that effectively address means safety, suicidality, and intimate partner violence.