Study Reveals That a Collaborative Therapy Can Help Reduce the Risk of Suicide Attempts Dramatically

Attempted suicide has been one of the major risk factors for suicide and repeated suicide attempts. However, despite efforts to address this problem, there has been a very little decrease in the number of deaths from it.

According to medicaldaily.com, a new study revealed that the rate of suicide for adults ages 35 to 64 has largely increased. In 1999, suicide rate was at 13.7 per 100,000 people. In 2010, the total number of deaths ballooned to 17.6 which is a 28 percent higher incidence. There is also no major progress in the psychological intervention that is geared toward preventing the risk for suicide especially for those who have already been hospitalized for attempted suicide.

For the study, the researchers called up 120 patients who were admitted to the emergency department of the Bern University General Hospital in Switzerland after a suicide attempt, and voluntarily registering them in one out of two groups. The groups were for those who received treatment as usual (TAU) which was made to fit their individual needs, and the other is the Attempted Suicide Short Intervention Program (ASSIP) which is a "novel brief therapy that is based from a patient-centered model of suicidal behavior, putting importance on engaging collaboration in both the patient and the therapist, plos.org reported.

Both groups were followed up for two years. The only difference is that the ASSIP group received letters from their therapist that remind them of the coping strategies they have made together. By the end of the study, it revealed a dramatic difference between the two groups.

Although both groups had one completed suicide each, the ASSIP group only had five repeat suicide attempts, which is an 80-percent decrease in suicide risk compared to the 41 the TAU groups had. The result also showed that the ASSIP group has a 72% fewer confinement days than those who receive the usual treatment. The former group also remained in contact with the researchers while the latter had many drop outs.

"The study's findings in a real-world clinical setting (a university hospital in the Swiss capital) are promising," the researchers concluded. "They justify further testing in large clinical trials and diverse settings to answer conclusively whether and where ASSIP can reduce repeat suicide attempts, prevent deaths from suicide, and reduce health-care costs."

Video Credit: youtube.com/wacthwellcast