Study Points to Soldiers Most Likely to Attempt Suicide Within 30 Days of Suicidal Thoughts

About 3.5% of U.S. Army soldiers who were diagnosed with suicidal thoughts attempted suicide within 30 days of reporting these thoughts, according to areport inAJP in Advance. Those most likely to attempt suicide within 30 days of reporting suicidal thoughts were women, combat medics, individuals with a pre-existing anxiety disorder, and those with a sleep disorder.“Although the majority of soldiers who attempt suicide have no history of administratively documented ideation, there is a significant minority whose suicidal thoughts are diagnosed prior to their attempt,” wrote Holly B. Herberman Mash, Ph.D., and Robert J. Ursano, M.D., of the Uniformed Servic es University of the Health Sciences, Bethesda, Md., and colleagues. “This paper importantly speaks to psychiatrists and other mental health care providers who have to make difficult treatment and management decisions for those specifically struggling with suicide ideation,” Ursano noted in amedia release.The researchers analyzed data from the Army Study to Assess Risk and Resilience in Servicemembers (Army STARRS) collected between 2006 and 2009. The authors identified 11,178 active-duty soldiers with medically documented suicidal ideation and no prior medically documented suicide attempts. They examined risk factors for suicide attempt within 30 days of first suicidal ideation including sociodemographic characteristics, psychiatric diagnoses, injuries, history of family violence, and criminal history or history of...
Source: Psychiatr News - Category: Psychiatry Tags: ajp in advance Army Army STARRS screening tools suicidal ideation suicide attempt Source Type: research