Every year, about 30,000 people die by suicide in the U.S., and some 650,000 receive emergency treatment after a suicide attempt. Often, those most at risk are the least able to access professional help. Reducing Suicide provides a blueprint for addressing this tragic and costly problem: how we can build an appropriate infrastructure, conduct needed research, and improve our ability to recognize suicide risk and effectively intervene. Rich in data, the book also strikes an intensely personal chord, featuring compelling quotes about people's experience with suicide. The book explores the factors that raise a person's risk of suicide: psychological and biological factors including substance abuse, the link between childhood trauma and later suicide, and the impact of family life, economic status, religion, and other social and cultural conditions. The authors review the effectiveness of existing interventions, including mental health practitioners' ability to assess suicide risk among patients. They present lessons learned from the Air Force suicide prevention program and other prevention initiatives. And they identify barriers to effective research and treatment. This new volume will be of special interest to policy makers, administrators, researchers, practitioners, and journalists working in the field of mental health.

The main focus of this review is to present the findings from primary research that assessed the efficacy/effectiveness of suicide prevention programs on school aged children and youth (i.e., ages 5 to 19 years) including school-based or commmity-based suicide prevention programs An assessment tool developed, pre-tested and modified in other Canadian reviews was used to critically appraise the quality of the published studies. Most of the studies focused on the general student population, while a few studies first categorized students as 'at-risk' or 'in need' before the intervention. Six out of 10 studies were rated as moderate to strong in relation to their methodological quality. Two out of these six studies using similar approaches for risk stratification and delivering intervention programs with similar objectives, showed consistent and encouraging evidence on the effects (for example, decreases in depression, hopelessness, stress, anxiety and anger) of their programs. Despite these findings the overall methodological weaknesses and inconsistent findings from the studies indicate that there is insufficient evidence to either support or not to support curriculum-based suicide prevention programs in schools.

Argues that schools have a much larger role to play in the prevention of suicide among children and adolescents than they have generally undertaken hitherto. Sets out various ways in which teachers can detect suicidal tendencies and make appropriate interventions.

It takes a village to raise a child, and in the case of youth suicide, it takes an entire community to save one. As a high school principal, Dr. Gregory A. Hudnall dealt with dozens of student suicides and devoted himself to bringing hope to despondent students. In this much-needed book, Dr. Hudnall teaches risk factors and warning signs of suicide and how you can be a member of the Hope Squad.

Publisher description

The International Handbook of Suicide Prevention, 2nd Edition, presents a series of readings that consider the individual and societal factors that lead to suicide, it addresses ways these factors may be mitigated, and presents the most up-to-date evidence for effective suicide prevention approaches. An updated reference that shows why effective suicide prevention can only be achieved by understanding the many reasons why people choose to end their lives Gathers together contributions from more than 100 of the world’s leading authorities on suicidal behavior—many of them new to this edition Considers suicide from epidemiological, psychological, clinical, sociological, and neurobiological perspectives, providing a holistic understanding of the subject Describes the most up-to-date, evidence-based research and practice from across the globe, and explores its implications across countries, cultures, and the lifespan

As awareness grows about the alarming increase in youth suicide rates, school leaders need information on suicide prevention and postvention. Tragically, the search often begins only after the school community has suffered the loss of a student. Schools must start to be proactive and educate themselves about risk factors and prevention strategies. Designed as a handbook for busy educators, A Culture of Caring: A Suicide Prevention Guide for Schools (K—12) includes information about prevention, intervention, and postvention along with commentary from experts in the field. Each chapter stands alone and does not have to be read in sequence. Resources and descriptions of programs relevant to each chapter are organized by topic. School leaders, counselors, and teachers can use the information to create their own plans or just glance through it to get ideas. With this book, any school community that takes suicide prevention seriously will have access the knowledge, tools and resources to save lives.