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Showing results for tags 'Self harm/ suicide'.
Found 206 results
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Content ArticleWhen Giancarlo Gaglione’s brother, Lanfranco, died by suicide at the age of 26, it came like a lightning bolt out of the blue. None of his family or friends had noticed anything different about him leading up to the moment he took his own life, and he only confided briefly, a week before, in two people: his best friend and his girlfriend. In this article, the World Health Organization (WHO) focuses on how masculinity norms can discourage men from recognising and seeking help for mental health problems. A new Health Evidence Network (HEN) report on Mental health, men, and culture, launched by the WHO Regional Office for Europe, gives concrete recommendations on how policy-makers can address certain mental health issues arising from traditional patterns of masculinity.
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Content ArticleMany risks faced by patients in acute mental health settings are similar to those that occur in other areas of healthcare, for example medication errors and cross-infection. In addition, however, there are unsafe behaviours associated with serious mental health problems, including violence and self-harm; the measures taken to address these, such as restraint or seclusion, may result in further risks to patient safety. This article by Catherine Gilliver in the Nursing Times discusses the need for a physical and psychosocial environment in which staff, patients and visitors feel recognised and valued.
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Content ArticleIn the UK and Ireland men are three to four times more likely to die by suicide than women. Research also tells us that men who are less well-off and living in the most deprived areas are up to 10 times more likely to die by suicide than more well-off men from affluent areas .Middle-aged men in the UK and Ireland also experience higher suicide rates than other groups, a fact that has persisted for decades. The Samaritans carried out in-depth ethnographic interviews with 16 less well-off middle aged men across the UK and Ireland to find out the challenges they faced and the events which lead them to crisis point. The study explored what these men said worked for them when they came into contact with with support services. This is the first of two connected reports. The second report, due to be released later in 2020, will set out recommendations of how services can effectively engage and support men earlier in their lives, before they reach crisis
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Content ArticleSurveys show that men with ‘macho’ attitudes are more likely to have mental health problems. Jim Pollard argues that reducing the alarming male suicide rates requires a new language as well as new services.
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Content ArticleThis report from the Samaritans finds that there is no consistently effective support available to people who self-harm. The research identified four key support needs for people who self-harm, which are seen as essential to providing effective care: distraction from immediate self-harm urges emotional relief in times of stress developing alternative coping strategies addressing the underlying reasons for self-harm.
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Content ArticleIn this blog for the Guardian, a well respected surgeon tells of the time they were admitted to the intensive care unit of the hospital where they worked following a suicide attempt. The surgeon explains how depression is a lot more common in medicine than realised but how it is still stigmatised, even within the medical profession. Many medical staff often display signs of depression differently to others and keep working right up until they break; work brings comfort from the feelings of hopelessness and worthlessness. Very few have the opportunity to attend counselling, since this would require taking time off work. "I would be smiling and laughing on the outside, but on the inside was a continuous mantra of self-loathing that kept getting louder. I pushed myself harder, took extra shifts, tried to put my head down and just get through it. One day, I had had enough. The pain had become physical as well as mental, and the idea of having to live any longer was unbearable."
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Content ArticleThis video supports the launch of our thematic review that presents a detailed analysis of claims made after an individual has attempted to take their life. Claims relating to completed suicide and attempted suicide are reviewed, regardless of whether the claim resulted in financial compensation. It identifies common problems with care and provides recommendations for improvement to support service delivery.
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Content ArticleThis report from Verita, an independent consultancy, provides an independent account into the disciplinary process regarding Nurse Amin Abdullah in late 2015. It was commissioned by Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust (‘the trust’) in 2017 to review the process that it followed in dealing with Nurse Abdullah’s case and whether fair and appropriate action was taken
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Content ArticleHealthcare provision in the NHS is very safe but on rare occasions when things go wrong, it is important that those involved are properly informed and supported, compensation is paid fairly, unnecessary costs are contained and that we learn in order to improve. Negligence also comes at significant personal and financial cost for the NHS, not all of which is visible. NHS Resolution has conducted a thematic review into learning from suicide related claims with in the NHS.
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Content ArticleINQUEST's evidence-based report Stolen lives and missed opportunities: the deaths of young adults and children in prison, documents the deaths of 65 young people and children in prison between 2011 and 2014. In the four years covered, INQUEST reveals an average of more than one young death each month.
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Content ArticleIn May 2018, INQUEST published Still dying on the inside: examining deaths in women’s prisons providing unique insight into deaths in women’s prisons. The report was based on an examination of official data, INQUEST’s research, casework and an analysis of coroners’ reports and jury findings. This 2019 briefing provides an update to that report, reflecting on the cases and figures for 2018/2019.
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Content ArticleThis joint report by the Prison Reform Trust (PRT), INQUEST and Pact (the Prison Advice and Care Trust) reveals that most prisons in England and Wales are failing in their duty to ensure that emergency phone lines are in place for families to share urgent concerns about self-harm and suicide risks of relatives in prison. This is in serious breach of government policy that families should be able to share concerns ‘without delay’.
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Content ArticleIn 2018/19, ten people died each week following release from prison. Every two days, someone took their own life. In the same year, one woman died every week, and half of these deaths were self-inflicted. This report, co-authored by Dr Jake Phillips of Sheffield Hallam University and Rebecca Roberts of INQUEST, provides an overview of what is known about the deaths of people on post custody supervision following release from prison. It highlights the lack of visibility and policy attention given to this growing problem and calls for immediate action to ensure greater scrutiny, learning and prevention.
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Content ArticleSuicide is a major public health issue with more than 800,000 people taking their own lives worldwide per year. This loss of life has devastating effects on families and friends and the person’s wider network. Patients in contact with mental health services and those who present to hospital following self-harm are identified by national suicide prevention strategies as key target groups for reducing suicide rates. Despite decades of research into self-harm and suicide prevention, there are significant gaps between research, policy, and clinical practice. In this editorial in the Journal of Mental Health, Quinlivan et al. discuss how adopting a patient safety paradigm can provide additional insights into suicidal behaviour in mental health services and generate new opportunities for suicide prevention.
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Content Article
AQuA: Suicide prevention toolkit (May 2017)
Patient Safety Learning posted an article in Suicide and self-harm
This toolkit from the Advancing Quality Alliance (AQuA)is for anyone involved in designing, delivering, providing or commissioning suicide prevention services/support. The aims of this toolkit are to share information on mental health services/support, considering what ‘good’ looks like, and to provide an approach to implementing high quality/effective mental health services/support. -
Content Article
'False negative' and the impact on my mental health
Anonymous posted an article in Blogs
The following blog was shared by a patient who wished to remain anonymous. In this account, they explain why they felt they were treated differently when they presented with symptoms of Covid-19 due to their mental health difficulties. They also describe how receiving a false negative test result caused further harm to their mental health. -
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Suicide amongst anaesthetists 2019
Claire Cox posted an article in Staff safety
Anaesthetists are thought to be at increased risk of suicide amongst the medical profession. The aims of the following guidelines written by the Association of Anaesthetists are: increase awareness of suicide and associated vulnerabilities, risk factors and precipitants; to emphasise safe ways to respond to individuals in distress, both for them and for colleagues working alongside them; and to support individuals, departments and organisations in coping with a suicide. -
Content ArticlePatients in inpatient mental health settings face similar risks (eg, medication errors) to those in other areas of healthcare. In addition, some unsafe behaviours associated with serious mental health problems (eg, self-harm), and the measures taken to address these (eg, restraint), may result in further risks to patient safety. The objective of this review, published in BMJ Open, is to identify and synthesise the literature on patient safety within inpatient mental health settings using robust systematic methodology.
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Content Article
Family reference group: INQUEST
Claire Cox posted an article in Patient stories
INQUEST is a charity providing expertise on state related deaths and their investigation to bereaved people, lawyers, advice and support agencies, the media and parliamentarians. Their specialist casework includes deaths in police and prison custody, immigration detention, mental health settings and deaths involving multi-agency failings or where wider issues of state and corporate accountability are in question. What is the Family Reference Group? The INQUEST Family Reference Group is made up of people directly affected by a contentious death (i.e. in detention/custody, where a state body is involved, or where the facts are disputed). It supports and contributes to INQUEST's work from a family perspective. The reference group brings together a range of experiences, taking into consideration race and gender perspectives, types of deaths across custody, immigration detention and mental health care. -
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INQUEST: Skills and support toolkit
Claire Cox posted an article in Prison setting
The INQUEST Skills and Support Toolkit is a resource for families and friends dealing with the aftermath of a death in custody and detention. The skills toolkit has been directed by the thoughts and experiences of INQUEST’s family reference group. The group includes a number of families whose relative has died in police custody or following police contact, prison custody, an immigration removal centre and a psychiatric setting. -
Content Article
Video: Living with schizophrenia (6 July 2023)
Patient-Safety-Learning posted an article in Mental health
In this video, Chris tells his story of how he dealt with a traumatic childhood and subsequent diagnosis of schizophrenia. He talks about the medication and therapy that have helped him. Warning: The film does contain references to distressing themes. -
Content ArticleIn this article, Rachel Star Withers shares her account of receiving electroconvulsive therapy to treat her severe depression and schizophrenia while in her final year at college. She describes how the treatment robbed her of her memory, reading and writing abilities, but saved her life. Without ECT, Rachel believe she would have committed suicide. She talks about the need to educate people about the realities of ECT and undo unhelpful 'horror-story' stereotypes.
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Content ArticleThis blog published by the Irish Health Service Executive (HSE) tells the story of Mark, who was diagnosed with schizophrenia 15 years ago, aged 15. It describes the issues he and his mother faced in getting him the care he needed, including being treated inappropriately and without dignity during emergency department visits, problems accessing ongoing community support and a reluctance to assist him with reducing his medication dosage. It also highlights how his family were not included in care plans and treatment decisions, and their needs as carers were rarely considered.
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Content ArticleThe word 'controversy' almost always accompanies any reference to electroconvulsive therapy (ECT). It has a dark history and remains a deeply contentious practice. For many, ECT is seen as outdated, forever linked with frightening images of medical abuse, cruelty and even punishment. In this programme for BBC Radio 4, Professor Sally Marlow met her friend Dr Tania Gergel at King’s College London, which forced her to reassess everything she thought she knew about ECT. Tania told Sally that ECT had saved her life on numerous occasions and that ECT is the only treatment that can bring her back to health after episodes of severe depression, psychosis and mania. Tania is Director of Research at Bipolar UK. She’s a philosopher and an internationally respected medical ethicist. She also lives with a serious mental illness; an unusual mixed type of bipolar disorder. During her last period of illness a year ago, Tania kept an audio diary., which she shares extracts from throughout the programme in order to break down stigma around both mental illness and ECT.
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Content ArticleThese online resources are designed to help healthcare professionals improve conversations with their patients about suicidal ideation, self-harm and other common mental health problems. The resources are based on a field of research known as Conversation Analysis, which micro-analyses verbal and non-verbal communication to study the consequences of different ways of communicating. Resources include research findings and real examples from video-recorded psychosocial assessments with mental health nurses, social workers and other healthcare professionals. To access the resources, you need to be a healthcare professional and will need to create an account.
