Christine Yu Moutier, M.D., will launch a session on suicide prevention at the AAMC Annual Meeting from the perspectives of a range of professionals, including psychiatrists, researchers, consultants to the U.S. government, and Chief Medical Officer of the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. I should have. others.
Instead, she decided to share her personal story.
“First of all, I am human,” she told the audience at Learn Serve Lead 2022: The Annual Meeting in Nashville on Nov. 13. “[I] I had my own genetic load and environmental influences that led to a lived experience of life-threatening mental health struggles,” she said. When they don’t give you the ability, the language, or the permission to talk about things…it’s an experience you’ll never forget.”
In a session titled “Preventing Suicide During and After COVID: Science, Culture, and Solutions,” moderated by Sarah Vinson, MD, Associate Clinical Professor of Psychiatry and Pediatrics at Morehouse College of Medicine, Moutier said: She shared more of her personal thoughts. Evidence-based insights for journeys, and saving lives from suicide.
After her own painful experience, Moutier took a year off from school and underwent treatment she called life-changing. Eventually, as she became more open about what she went through, more people began sharing their stories with her. I knew it wasn’t,” she said.
In fact, from 1999 to 2018, suicide rates in the United States increased by 35%. And after a slight dip in recent years, his early 2021 data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention also show an increase. In addition, certain groups are at greater risk, including youth and young adults, blacks and browns.
The pandemic has also taken a huge toll on mental health. Over 2000 children have lost a parent or caregiver and alcohol consumption has increased.
But science has shed much light on suicide risk detection and prevention in recent years.Now the medical world—and nations—must step up efforts to apply that science to save lives, Moutier said. rice field.
An important way to do this is to develop a better understanding of what puts people at risk for suicide. Importantly, she wasn’t caused by a single event or trait.
There may be a triggering event, but other risk factors are also at play, including genes and epigenetics, mental health conditions, and lethal methods. “Lethal means are big things,” she noted.
Above all, suicide is a health problem. In the face of that fact, Moutier argued that some words such as “suicide” don’t make sense. It comes from a time when it was considered a reprehensible act or character weakness.”
Moutier laid out specific steps health care organizations can take to advance suicide prevention.
For one, leaders should provide education to all staff members. When a patient screens positive for suicide risk, providers should plan for safety and provide crisis resources.
Ideally, healthcare providers also connect patients with an approach called Caring Contacts that encourages connection with others. Beginning in the 1970s, patients receive personal follow-up contact with providers or other parties, including those with suicidal experience. Moutier pointed to research showing that suicidal-risk individuals who receive a compassionate card, phone call, or text are 40% less likely to attempt suicide than she to 70% less likely to attempt suicide.
But as providers focus on patient care, Moutier said they can’t forget about the mental health issues of the people they work with.
Ironically, many of the traits that make a good doctor also increase the risk of suicide. Those traits include perfectionism, self-sufficiency, and an exaggerated sense of responsibility.
Pointing to a 2022 study, Moutier noted that physician suicide differs from suicide in the general population. For example, a doctor who died by suicide was three times more likely to have work-related problems at the time of his death.
Physicians also tend to avoid mental health treatments, instead prescribing them themselves or obtaining psychiatric medications from colleagues. Part of their motivation comes from stigma and fear of losing their medical license. “We are depriving potentially life-saving treatments,” she said.
Moutier went on to urge listeners to reach out to colleagues they fear might be struggling.
“You don’t have to be a mental health professional to be a caring colleague, to be aware of and trust your own intuition.” Individuals should not be concerned that the question increases their risk of suicide.
When possible, discussing suicidal tendencies should help those involved take next steps, such as starting mental health treatment.
“A collaborative conversation can be a game changer,” says Moutier. “Something very liberating happens.”
