Study: Peer-Led Therapy May Reduce Suicide Risk

Participation in peer-led therapy groups can help at-risk patients become less vulnerable for suicide according to new research to be presented at the American Psychiatric Association Annual Meeting in Honolulu.

Suicide risk assessment has become increasingly refined and utilized in public and private medical and psychiatric facilities across the nation including within the military where high suicide rates have been reported among recently returning military and older veterans.

The research examined whether identifying and reinforcing a primary care patient’s suicide protective factors, such as responsibilities toward children and family, optimism, hope, and positive coping skills, spiritual, moral, and religious factors, and social supports, may help lessen the impact of crises and depression and reduce the risk for suicide.

The study involved screening primary care patients at Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Centers for suicide risk using the Patient Health Questionnaire-2. Patients identified as at-risk were invited to a 4-week peer-led therapy group aimed at providing social support and educating patients on the importance of these protective factors and ways to integrate the factors more fully into their lives and ongoing awareness.

Data collected thus far, author Shabnam Balai, M.D., reports, are encouraging and show that by participating in a low-intensive, peer-led therapy group, primary care patients can become less vulnerable for suicide.

The research was presented at the APA Annual Meeting in Honolulu. The meeting was May 14-18, 2010.

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APA’s 164th Annual Meeting Saturday, May 14 to Wednesday, May 18, 2011 in Honolulu at the Hawaii Convention Center.

Register for APA 2011 today!  APA President Carol Bernstein, M.D., worked with the Scientific Program Committee to recruit prominent speakers, including:

·         Thomas Insel, M.D., director of the National Institute of Mental Health and David Lewis, M.D., director of the Translational Neuroscience Program at the University of Pittsburgh headlining the NIMH-sponsored track;

·         John Walkup, M.D., New York-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center, discussing new research on anxiety disorders in children and adolescents;

·         Dilip V. Jeste M.D., University of California, San Diego, presenting the latest research on successful cognitive aging and wisdom;

·         Wayne Katon M.D., University of Washington Medical School, addressing the link between depression and diabetes and its implications.

The theme of the meeting is “Transforming Mental Health through Leadership, Discovery and Collaboration,” and the program will feature lectures, continuing medical education courses, as well as hundreds of educational sessions and new research posters.

Aloha! Join us for the 2011 Annual Meeting in Honolulu

Aloha! Attend the 2011 Annual Meeting in Honolulu, Hawaii, from May 14-18, 2011, and earn up to 40 Continuing Medical Education credits. Hear Archbishop Desmond Tutu at the Convocation. Learn about the latest evidence-based practices, translational research from the National Institues of Mental Health and the latest on the development of the fifth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders.