Prevention of Suicidal Behaviors Among Young People
Children and adolescents commonly keep their thoughts about suicide to themselves, and many suicide attempts go unrevealed to par ents and other adults. Proactive screening programs for adolescent suicidality rely on the identification of the principal risk factors for completed suicide (i.e., current suicidal ideation, previous attempt behavior, and the presence of a mood, anxiety, or substance use disorder). Access to services and defeating the stigma of suicide are the biggest obstacles for suicide prevention. This workshop will address suicide prevention research that is being conducted in schools, discuss the known impact the research has made, identify needed research and practice going forward, and describe methods for long-term suicide prevention.
Workshop Objectives
At the end of this activity the learner will be able to
• Define and discuss suicide and suicidal behaviors.
• Identify youth at risk.
• Describe the epidemiology, etiology, mechanisms, and interventions for attempted and completed suicide.
• Identify the essential clinical, social, and ethical issues in the conduct of suicide research.
Presenter: Holly C. Wilcox, Ph.D., is an Associate Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, and the Department of Mental Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. Dr.Wilcox is a psychiatric epidemiologist primarily focused on the prevention of suicide. She is the principal investigator of a large randomized trial funded by the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) to study the effectiveness of a universal depression education program delivered in high schools on reducing mental health stigma and increasing mental health service utilization. In addition, she has been involved in the evaluation of the long-term impact o fthe Good Behavior Game intervention and suicide prevention approaches such as suicide risk screening in schools and emergency departments.
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