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Post by Admin on Jul 28, 2023 23:17:48 GMT
Antidepressants, antipsychotics, and benzos all increase suicide attempts in new study By Peter Simons -17/07/20230508 www.madintheuk.com/2023/07/antidepressants-antipsychotics-suicide-risk/A new study in JAMA Network Open found that antidepressants don’t prevent suicide. The researchers concluded that antidepressants, antipsychotics, and benzodiazepine drugs were all associated with increased suicide attempts in people with borderline personality disorder (BPD). “Mood stabilizers” had no effect on suicide attempt rates. ADHD stimulant drugs were the only drug class associated with decreased suicide attempts. “Altogether, our data suggest that treatment with antidepressants, antipsychotics, or mood stabilizers does not appear to reduce suicidal behaviour in patients with BPD,” the researchers write. In terms of actual deaths by suicide (rather than suicide attempts), stimulant drugs were associated with a decrease, while the other classes of drugs were not associated with any change—except for benzodiazepines, which were associated with a significant increase in deaths by suicide. The researchers write: “Alarmingly, treatment with benzodiazepines was related to a 4-fold risk increment in suicide completion in patients with BPD.” Johannes Lieslehto led a team of researchers at the University of Eastern Finland and Niuvanniemi Hospital, Finland, and at the Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden. They included 22,601 people with BPD (84.3% women) from a nationwide Swedish database from 2006 to 2021. The diagnosis of borderline personality disorder is a contested construct that many researchers and clinicians believe should be eliminated from the DSM and ICD. The vast majority of people diagnosed with BPD are women who have experienced significant trauma, most commonly sexual assault, and the diagnosis has been accused of “blaming the victim” for their response to abuse or at least medicalizing the result of trauma. Both clinicians and the general public may use the diagnosis to dismiss and invalidate the person’s experiences, leading to poorer quality medical and psychiatric care. Although BPD is controversial, in this study, it serves as a useful proxy for people who are at increased risk of suicide. In this study, a third of the participants (32.4%) had attempted in the past. Suicide attempts, self-harm behaviours, and death by suicide are all considered common features of the BPD diagnosis. Thus, researchers are concerned with finding a solution to reduce this risk. Although the researchers note that psychotherapy, such as dialectical behaviour therapy, is considered effective for preventing suicide, they add that almost everyone with a BPD diagnosis is prescribed psychiatric drugs in addition to (or instead of) therapy. In the current study, 81.5% were taking antidepressants, while others were on antipsychotics (41.1%), mood stabilizers (31.7%), benzodiazepines (56%), and stimulants (24.4%). Many patients were prescribed multiple drug classes. “Despite the paucity of evidence, antidepressants, antipsychotics, and mood stabilizers are routinely used in BPD with the intention of treating suicidal behaviour along with symptoms such as mood lability, anger, and impulsivity.” the researchers write. The researchers were not able to assess whether patients received psychotherapy. Throughout the study, there were 8,513 hospitalizations after suicide attempts and 316 deaths by suicide. The stimulants lisdexamphetamine (Vyvanse) and methylphenidate (Ritalin) were associated with decreased risk, as was the antidepressant vortioxetine (Trintellix). Mood stabilizers like lithium, lamotrigine, and valproic acid were not associated with any effect on suicide risk. However, most antidepressants were associated with an increased risk of suicide attempts, including sertraline (Zoloft), fluoxetine (Prozac), paroxetine (Paxil), venlafaxine (Effexor), fluvoxamine (Luvox), duloxetine (Cymbalta), and clomipramine (Anafranil). Likewise, most antipsychotics were associated with an increased risk of suicide attempts, including aripiprazole (Abilify), risperidone (Risperdal), haloperidol (Haldol), flupentixol, and zuclopenthixol. One alternate explanation for the results is that people with BPD are prescribed psychiatric drugs at times of increased risk for suicide—meaning that the drugs may not be causing suicide attempts but simply being increased during risk for suicide attempts. However, the researchers did extra analyses to rule out this explanation, statistically accounting for the first few months after drug prescription, and it did not change their results. Moreover, even if this were true, it wouldn’t explain the surprising finding that benzodiazepines are associated with a huge increased risk. Also, it’s notable that there is no signal whatsoever for the drugs being able to reduce suicide—except for stimulant drugs. Why might ADHD drugs help decrease the risk of suicide? The researchers suggest that stimulant drugs might decrease impulsivity—a key feature of many people who attempt suicide. They write, “Meta-analytical evidence indicates that treatment with ADHD medications is associated with decreased impulsivity, which is critical given that impulsivity is one of the strongest predictors of suicidal behaviour in BPD.” Likewise, the researchers argue that benzodiazepines have been found to increase impulsivity and aggression, which might account for the association with increased suicide risk. Antidepressant drugs, despite being prescribed for people at risk of suicide, have been repeatedly shown to increase suicide risk, particularly for children and adolescents. Similarly, although some researchers claim that lithium has the potential to prevent suicide, despite its many risks, a large study was terminated early because the drug had no positive effect, and a recent meta-analysis confirmed that the drug does not reduce suicide. In conclusion, the researchers write: “In this comparative effectiveness research study of an unselected nationwide sample of patients with BPD, the use of ADHD medications, potentially due to diminished impulsivity, was consistently associated with a reduced risk of suicide. However, the use of antidepressants, antipsychotics, or mood stabilizers was not associated with a reduced risk of suicidality in BPD, even when potential protopathic bias was controlled. Lastly, benzodiazepine use was associated with a marked increment in suicide risk.” **** Lieslehto, J., Tiihonen, J., Lähteenvuo, M., Mittendorfer-Rutz, E., Tanskanen, A., & Taipale, H. (2023). Comparative effectiveness of pharmacotherapies for the risk of attempted or completed suicide among persons with borderline personality disorder. JAMA Network Open, 6(6): e2317130. doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2023.17130 (Link) Editor’s Note: Part of MITUK’s core mission is to present a scientific critique of the existing paradigm of care. Each week we will be republishing Mad in America’s latest blog on the evidence supporting the need for radical change.
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Post by Admin on Sept 13, 2023 16:27:11 GMT
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Post by Admin on Oct 20, 2023 23:22:34 GMT
Alternatives to Suicide Research Project: Exploring the experiences and impacts of a peer- based approach to responding to suicidal distress RESEARCH REPORT NATALIA JERZMANOWSKA, SCARLETT FRANKS, EMMA TSERIS & CHARLOTTE FINLAYSON SOCIAL WORK AND POLICY STUDIES UNIVERSITY OF SYDNEY August, 2022 drive.google.com/file/d/12SNQAPxV8H-dG2fQ0FtjqKUbCEOcwSqS/view
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Post by Admin on Oct 30, 2023 22:13:18 GMT
The War on Suicide Is Making Things Worse By Crystal Nelson -October 26, 2023 www.madinamerica.com/2023/10/the-war-on-suicide-is-making-things-worse/Before her suicide in 2020, streamer Ohlana put out a statement regarding suicide intervention stating that “depressed [people] struggle to reach out in fear the ones closest to them will have cops show up and confine them against their will,” leaving them “alone with their dark thoughts.” They are, as she said, “stuck because they don’t want to be trapped where they just feel worse.” “It’s not anybody’s fault,” she added shortly before her death. But is it not? Currently, in many parts of the world, the penalty for suicidal behaviors is involuntary commitment; that is to say, whether you want to or not, you will be hospitalized. Here in the United States, this often takes the form of a civil commitment order. Subjects can also expect other potential penalties, such as removal of gun rights, denial of the opportunity to serve in the military, and, indirectly, maybe even loss of employment, academic standing, financial stability, and child custody, to name a few. Carceral suicide intervention is a question of culture and government policy. Advocates say it is a necessary, life-saving measure, even if it is not appreciated in the moment by the person subjected to it. Critics say it exacerbates the issue, making things worse for those in crisis, teaching them and others not to reach out before it is too late. With the general rise in civil commitment over the past few decades, suicide rates have been increasing. Defenders of civil commitment propose that the situation would be even worse without the penalty in place, but there are many good reasons to indicate this is not the case. While allegedly intended to help, institutionalizing people against their will does more harm than good. The process of psychiatric coercion is recounted as dehumanizing by more survivors than not. Mental health and social outcomes for those who reported coercion were overwhelmingly negative. Fear can dominate their experience in a coercive environment, prompting people to repress emotions into what’s deemed as sufficiently stable for release. (This can also happen by proxy, where if people know this is what they will face if they open up, they may avoid doing so.) The already-hasty diagnostic process may also be affected by the extreme distress of the committed subject whose crisis, if it existed upon commitment, has been exacerbated; and whose necessary trust in the psychiatrist is transformed into a need to perform normalcy to escape. All this does, for many, is teach them their feelings are shameful, to be punished, hidden, repressed… which is why, following hospitalization, suicide rates skyrocket. A 2014 study showed that increased contact with psychiatric staff was a massive risk factor for death by suicide when analysing thousands of completed suicides. While those who are more disturbed to begin with are likely to have more contact with psychiatric staff, the authors believed the hospitalizations, particularly if involuntary, constituted a substantial independent risk factor. The study and accompanying editorial note indicated that the trauma and stigma inherent in psychiatric hospitalization were so significant that they likely caused some of the suicides. As Robert Whitaker commented in an article on the Absolute Prohibition site, “[The Danish study concluded] that ‘it would seem sensible, for example, all things being equal, to regard a non-depressed person undergoing psychiatric review in the emergency department as at far greater risk [of suicide] than a person with depression, who has only ever been treated in the community.’” The only study in my search which produced mixed results for involuntary commitment was a study from 2006 in which they did not distinguish between people who were forced or coerced and those who were not, which muddied the waters. (“Involuntary” means treating a subject as though they are unconscious; that is to say, whether the person wants it or not, they will be treated.) “Retrospectively, between 33% and 81% of patients regard the admission as justified and/or the treatment as beneficial.” However, the biggest thing to note is most people (52-72%) in the study agreed with their hospitalization while it was happening, meaning that they likely would have voluntarily gone regardless of the hold. There is still no evidence of any benefit for people who did not agree with their “treatment,” nor any randomized or controlled trial showing benefit of forced commitment. If one is still not convinced coercive hospitalization is an independent risk factor, there is further evidence with more controls indicating coercive methods independently increase suicidality. For example, even if suicidality was not present upon admission, suicidal behavior increases after hospitalization, especially if admission was coercive. The smoking gun is a 2019 study from the Harvard Review of Psychiatry which showed that patients who were hospitalized had massively increased suicide attempts and deaths versus clinically comparable patients who were not. Another issue is that suicide is notoriously hard to predict, even by professionals in the psychiatric industry. This has been shown over decades, as summarized in the 2023 “Report on Improving Mental Health Outcomes” by The Law Project for Psychiatric Rights citing a 2017 meta-analysis of 50 years of research. Evidence from extensive newer research has also shown the struggle to predict self-harm and suicide. A 2020 review in The Lancet showed that “risk assessment should not be seen as a way to predict future behaviour and should not be used as a means of allocating treatment,” in part because “the effectiveness of risk tools in predicting suicide or self-harm is limited.” Caregivers and patients both reported “a lack of clarity on what to do in a crisis.” People also struggle to predict it in themselves, as suicidal ideation rarely results in suicide (<1 in 14 people with suicidal ideation attempt within the next 2 years). Often, the person is simply in great emotional pain, and subconsciously seeking support; furthermore, even if deep down they want to die, when they will actually follow through is hard to predict. There has never been a controlled study, let alone randomized controlled trial, indicating that coerced patients are helped by this practice, much less the population at large. (One must factor in the suicidal people who purposely evade getting caught so as not to be targeted.) Patients claiming to be helped by coercive practices may be experiencing the placebo effect, as suicide attempts and deaths are so difficult to anticipate. The lack of evidence for the effectiveness is true in all countries, even ones with better conditions than the United States. In places where use of restraints, forced stripping/other sexual assault, and confiscation of phones are less common, there has still never been quality evidence for the use of coercion in admission. At least with coercion and force in other medical fields, the goal tends to be accomplished; while the patient may be traumatized, the procedure itself likely functions as anticipated. Forced commitment does not even accomplish the goal it sets out to do, which is reduce the chance of patient suicide. Additionally, in the U.S., proper procedures are rarely followed, and false testimony is accepted easily; it is likely less than 1 in 10 patients detained in institutions meet the criteria for a hold. Recourse is made difficult by common practices, such as banning the exchange of contact information with other subjects and the use of personal phones, internet, and recording devices in psychiatric wards. Coercive inpatient commitment was never evidence-based medicine, but rather a legal and cultural standard motivated by a misunderstanding of mental illness and human despair. Cultures do not need to penalize suicidality to have effective prevention, and having this policy in place harms far more people than it helps. Italy, for example, which does not use the standard of “threat to self” as a basis for commitment, has a suicide rate of only 4.3 per 100,000—less than one third of the U.S. rate, less than half the global average, and among the lowest in Europe. Arguably, ableism is at the root of forced intervention, where others determine that those labeled as severely psychiatrically disabled are unable to make their own decisions; or worse, that the comfort of others is more important than the impacts to the person themselves. Infantilization, or even downright objectification, of patients to this degree is not seen in any other area of medicine. As the “Report on Improving Mental Health Outcomes” points out, disability discrimination towards perceived psychiatrically disabled patients in this manner is discouraged by the United Nations. The World Health Organization concurs. Both organizations have called for the banning of forced commitment on the basis of it being a human rights abuse. Whether suicide is always the result of a psychiatric disorder or not, this is no basis to force or coerce psychiatric hospitalization. Incarceration, even if it is in a mental institution, is not a humane method of intervention. Survivors of coercive commitment commonly compare it to rape. It is easy to see the comparisons. Something that is supposed to be consensual and trusting is made into a reign of terror. If the subject is coerced into exhibiting signs of responding favorably, this is taken as evidence that it was not a real violation. Data may show the consensual version of each (i.e. hospitalization and sexual intercourse) to be helpful for mental health in ideal circumstances, but it would be a gross misapplication of said data to assume it generalizes when coercion is involved. Quite the opposite is true. Furthermore, the inherent lack of respect may contribute to the experience of coercion itself. For example, imagine you adore your partner and wish to be intimate with them. This may well change if they say your opinion is irrelevant and they will have sex with you regardless of what you think; the sex is involuntary. The lack of respect inherent in such an insinuation is inherently insulting and damages the relationship at its core. The same is true for involuntary commitment. The same may be said of coercive drug intervention. For a comparison, there is some evidence suggesting moderate use of alcohol may benefit wellbeing; however, may the same be said for peer-pressured drinking or downright spiking? This is unlikely, like with sexual activity versus rape. Hence, study results must always be used in their proper context when discussing interventions; coercive drugging is not the same as consensual drugging. In fact, even outpatient CTOs have substantial, international evidence against their use in systematic reviews and meta-analyses. This is unsurprising to anyone who understands proper mental health treatment and its vital relationship to humanization and trust. The elephant in the room is: Why do people not want the “help?” Why would one have to force the “help?” The answer often lies in the services provided and the methods used. Rather than an isolating, diagnosis-, drug-, and electroshock-pushing, carceral experience, people often need tangible solutions to life problems, like employment, human connection, and consensual ways to escape difficult abusive situations. This is especially true when patients know the treatments they are likely to be prescribed are proven to increase suicidality. Humanization is most needed at times when people’s distress is at its highest. People do not prefer to be gaslit that their distress must be a psychiatric drug deficiency, especially if they have had experience with psychiatry which created or exacerbated their issues. In investigating the mental health field and its abuses via civil commitment, journalist Rob Wipond found that organizations which openly opposed the WHO’s and UN’s stance, such as the American Psychiatric Association, NIMH, and others, were all unable to provide quality outcome data showing benefits of forced commitment or treatment. The studies on the topics overwhelmingly show no benefit—that the practices are traumatizing and suicidogenic, not healing. There are other involuntary treatments in medicine, such as vaccinating children and treating heart attack patients; however, these are used because they are effective and appreciated by most patients later on. Neither is true for those coercively subjected to psychiatric detention, and the more coercive the experience, the worse the outcomes tend to be. Via suicidogenic trauma, terror, and medicine, civil commitment has blood on its hands. Humanization and feelings of control are needed most when a person feels they have lost all meaning. When the alleged answers have proven not only to be human rights violations, but to be medically unsound, they must be done away with. Prohibition and the War on Drugs have long been linked to increased overdose deaths due to stigma, fear, and lack of legal, consensual resources. Likewise, the suicide epidemic can be reasonably attributed, at least in part, to the War on Suicide. The added factors like traumatic hospitalization and many of the drugs themselves being suicidogenic only worsen things further. As Dr. Peter Gotszche states, “Forced treatment kills patients.” *** Mad in America hosts blogs by a diverse group of writers. These posts are designed to serve as a public forum for a discussion—broadly speaking—of psychiatry and its treatments. The opinions expressed are the writers’ own.
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Post by Admin on Nov 2, 2023 21:03:38 GMT
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Post by Admin on Nov 3, 2023 1:57:15 GMT
Thinking About Suicide: Contemplating And Comprehending The Urge To Die In Stock ISBN 978 1 906254 28 5 (2010) Author: David Webb Cover Price: £15.00 www.pccs-books.co.uk/products/thinking-about-suicide-contemplating-and-comprehending-the-urge-to-dieThe literature of suicidology has studiously ignored the voice of those who actually experience suicidal feelings. David Webb suggests this is no accidental oversight but a very deliberate and systematic exclusion of this critically important first-person knowledge. The only thing that is banished with even more vigour from suicidology is mention of the spiritual wisdom that set the author free of his persistent urge to die. Webb rejects the dominant medical model that claims suicide is caused by some notional mental illness. Thinking About Suicide calls for the broad community conversation on suicide that is required to bring it out of the closet as a public health issue.
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Post by Admin on Nov 3, 2023 2:13:17 GMT
News Trusts are using unvalidated suicide risk tools against NICE guidance, researchers warn BMJ 2023; 383 doi: doi.org/10.1136/bmj.p2492 (Published 27 October 2023) Cite this as: BMJ 2023;383:p2492 www.bmj.com/content/383/bmj.p2492Many NHS trusts in England are using unvalidated suicide risk assessment tools, despite NICE advising against them, which in some cases is putting patients at risk, researchers have found.1 Suicide is a worldwide problem with 700 000 such deaths every year. A UN sustainable development goal aims to reduce suicide mortality by a third by 2030. But while there are many assessment tools that attempt to determine suicide risk, there is little evidence that they accurately detect those at highest risk.
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Post by Admin on Nov 3, 2023 12:57:49 GMT
ATTEMPTED SUICIDE AND SELF-HARM (SOUTH ASIAN WOMEN). core.ac.uk/download/pdf/161885447.pdfThis research focused on where the psychiatrists were coming from concerning views/treatments on suicide in these communities.
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Post by Admin on Nov 6, 2023 13:04:38 GMT
Is Suicide Prevention Everyone's Business? Monday, November 13, 2023 Quaker Meeting House, Edinburgh, United Kingdom events.bookitbee.com/university-of-edinburgh-21/is-suicide-prevention-everyones-business/What you need to know The UK’s suicide prevention strategies tell us that suicide prevention is everyone’s business meaning that we should all take an active role in intervening when we think something might be wrong with someone in our lives. But is suicide prevention everyone’s business and do we all have equal power to intervene? This event will be the first public exhibition of visual arts and creative writing produced by communities known to be at increased risk of suicide such as LGBTQ+ people, people criminalised through the justice system, homeless people, and people bereaved through suicide, and those that work with them, exploring exactly this. The event will have three parts: 1. 1. A public exhibition of art, poetry, and a zine on the politics of suicide prevention generated through community workshops 2. 2. A short talk on the research underpinning the exhibition (led in partnership between the University of Edinburgh and the University of Lincoln) 3. 3. A zine making and poetry workshop to give attendees a chance to speak back to the exhibition if they would like to This event is for anyone interested in UK suicide prevention and requires no previous knowledge – all are welcome! Location Quaker Meeting House 7 Victoria Terrace, Edinburgh, EH1 2JL United Kingdom The building is fully accessible with a ramp at the front door, a lift to all floors and accessible toilets. Induction loop facilities are available in the main rooms. Information about how to find the venue can be found here: www.equaker.org.uk/location
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Post by Admin on Nov 15, 2023 16:48:08 GMT
Only small change needed to make big change in suicide prevention – Samaritans Story by By Aine Fox, PA Social Affairs Correspondent www.msn.com/en-gb/news/uknews/only-small-change-needed-to-make-big-change-in-suicide-prevention-samaritans/ar-AA1jXYjqRenewing suicide prevention funding in England would cost less than a loaf of bread per person and must be pledged in the autumn statement next week, Samaritans has urged. The organisation said it wanted to send a message to Chancellor Jeremy Hunt that it would only take a “handful of small change from the Treasury to make a big change to suicide rates”, as supporters holding giant coins demonstrated outside Parliament. Samaritans chief executive Julie Bentley was among those who stood in Parliament Square holding giant coins totalling £1.40 – the amount the charity has said it would cost per person to renew funding in England which is due to end in March. Under the NHS Long Term Plan 2019 each local area in England received dedicated money for suicide prevention for a period of three years, but the Samaritans said most areas have already come to the end of their funding and it will finish for all by spring. Exactly a week ahead of the autumn statement, the charity said it wanted to remind Mr Hunt “that it’s not too late to deliver the financial boost needed to continue the life-saving work happening in communities across the country”. Ms Bentley said: “Millions of pounds have been invested in reducing smoking rates because it saves lives and cutting suicide rates should be no different. “The Government has just increased funding for local anti-smoking services to £140 million and we’re asking Jeremy Hunt for barely half that amount, the equivalent of £1.40 for every person in England, to be put into community suicide prevention. It’s small change for the Treasury but it will make a big change to people’s lives.”
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Post by Admin on Nov 20, 2023 21:19:39 GMT
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Post by Admin on Dec 7, 2023 22:10:31 GMT
DWP failings that helped trigger suicide ‘are a national issue’, NHS manager tells coroner By John Pring on 7th December 2023 Category: Benefits and Poverty www.disabilitynewsservice.com/dwp-failings-that-helped-trigger-suicide-are-a-national-issue-nhs-manager-tells-coroner/The actions of the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) are having a significant “debilitating” impact on service-users, particularly those trying to claim universal credit, senior mental health figures have told an inquest. One witness said service-users at a mental health trust are often “living on pennies” and “can’t afford to feed themselves properly” because their benefit claims have been rejected, while their mental health is “often made worse by the DWP’s inefficiency”. Another witness from the trust told the inquest into the death of Kevin Gale – who took his own life on 4 March 2022 – that the “debilitating” impact of DWP’s actions on people with mental distress was a “national issue”. Disability News Service (DNS) reported last month that coroner Kirsty Gomersal had sent a prevention of future deaths (PFD) letter to work and pensions secretary Mel Stride, warning him that he needed to act to prevent flaws in the universal credit system leading to further deaths. She had been told how Gale, a self-employed window-cleaner who was only able to work sporadically in the months before his death, took his own life after becoming overwhelmed by the universal credit application process. But DNS has now secured a recording of the inquest from the coroner’s office, and it details the depth of concerns within Cumbria, Northumberland, Tyne and Wear NHS Foundation Trust about the failing service provided by DWP. It is just the latest evidence of serious safeguarding flaws at the heart of the department, particularly around universal credit and the department’s over-stretched workforce. This week, DNS is also reporting how a “devastating” dossier of evidence compiled by the PCS union – based on evidence from its DWP members – shows how the department is a failing organisation in a “state of crisis” which faces a “near collapse” of its benefits systems. Only last month, DNS reported how conditions at the Oxford jobcentre became so stressful that 15 members of a team of 23 work coaches quit within a year, with at least eight experiencing a significant collapse in their mental health due to a sudden, huge increase in workload in late 2021. Also last month, DNS reported on a “deeply troubling” government report that ministers kept hidden for four years and which revealed significant flaws at the heart of the universal credit system, and how its design was “inadequate for vulnerable groups”. The coroner who heard the inquest into Gale’s death decided to send a PFD to Stride after hearing evidence from several witnesses from Cumbria, Northumberland, Tyne and Wear NHS Foundation Trust. They each described how Gale’s long-term anxiety had been repeatedly triggered by the problems he faced applying for universal credit. The inquest heard that he had a history of anxiety and depression stretching back several decades, as well as obsessive compulsive disorder, and had been sectioned for six weeks in November 2021. The inquest heard how Gale – who was well-liked and was supported by family and friends – had repeatedly told mental health professionals from the trust about the anxiety being caused by his universal credit claim, in the weeks leading up to his suicide. Although other factors – such as a recent diabetes diagnosis and other physical health problems – were also heightening his anxiety, the inquest heard that universal credit was his key concern. One witness from the trust said, in a written statement: “Kevin’s anxiety had been unfortunately exacerbated by the process of having to apply for universal credit. He couldn’t cope with the paperwork.” She said he had received a text from DWP the day before he died, asking him to contact the department, which “appeared to have escalated his anxiety”. A mental health duty worker who spoke to Gale on the phone the day before he died said his main concern had been universal credit “and his worry that he was being fraudulent in trying to claim benefits”. Dr Judith Whiteley, an associate specialist psychiatrist with the trust, said Gale had told her during a face-to-face appointment on 2 March – two days before his death – that he had been due to receive a call from DWP the following day so he could “at last secure some social welfare benefits”. She said he had been advised several times to contact Citizen’s Advice or The Lighthouse community mental health hub, while she had waited with him “in a very long queue”, trying to get through to DWP on the phone, but eventually had to abandon the attempt because his appointment had ended. The coroner was only able to hear from the trust about Gale’s universal credit claim – and not DWP – because the concerns were raised for the first time during the inquest and so no-one from the department had been asked to attend the hearing. As Dr Whiteley ended her evidence, the coroner asked her if there was anything she would like to add. She told her: “The DWP. The hurdles that our service-users have to go through to get any financial support. “Kevin struggled with this for several weeks, they bombarded him with forms to complete. “They weren’t accessible on the telephone that day… It’s a recurring theme within our service with our patients.” She added: “The amount of paperwork they subject our patients to, and you can imagine if you’re severely depressed, if you can’t concentrate, if your memory is poor, being asked to complete a 20-page document is essentially impossible. “Most of my service-users fortunately have the support of a family member to get that completed, so there’s the paperwork, there’s the endless queues on the telephone to get through, to speak to somebody.” She said one of her service-users with a “major mental disorder” had been forced to drive across the Pennines to Darlington to be assessed, while she was “regularly hearing about service-users that have been declined benefits”. Dr Whiteley said service-users’ mental health was “often made worse by the DWP’s inefficiency”. She said: “It perpetuates their illnesses, their depressions continue, their anxieties continue, and they don’t respond to medication as well as they should, the ability to function from day-to-day. “Often, they’re living on pennies. They can’t afford to feed themselves properly.” Her colleague, Anna Williams, the trust’s group nurse director for north Cumbria, told the inquest that the concerns raised by Dr Whiteley were “increasingly” a “common factor” and were “a national issue”. She said the trust’s crisis teams had been forced to start their own foodbanks three years ago. And she said she had asked for a DWP representative to join meetings of the director of public health’s north Cumbria suicide prevention group. Asked by the coroner if a PFD report sent to DWP would be useful in helping prevent suicides, she said: “I think it’s really important that we address this issue. It’s just so debilitating for people.” DWP continues to claim that it provides a supportive and compassionate service, and a strong financial safety net, while funding support for universal credit applications through its Help to Claim service, provided by Citizens Advice and funded by DWP. It says it has appointed more than 30 advanced customer support senior leaders (ACSSLs) across Britain since 2020, and that their role is to develop relationships with other organisations that provide support to claimants in local communities. And it says that the ACSSL who covers Cumbria has established links with the Cumbria and Lancashire suicide prevention groups. A DWP spokesperson said: “Our condolences are with Mr Gale’s family. “We will review the coroner’s report and respond in due course.”
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Post by Admin on Jan 15, 2024 12:46:41 GMT
Suicide as slow death: Towards a haunted sociology of suicide journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/00380261231212764Abstract Sociological research on suicide has tended to favour functionalist approaches, and quantitative methods. This article argues for an alternative engagement – drawing on interpretive paradigms, and inspired by ‘live’ methodologies, we make an argument for a haunted sociology of suicide. This approach, informed by Avery Gordon’s haunted sociological imagination and Lauren Berlant’s concept of slow death, works between the structural realities of inequalities in suicide rates and the more (in)tangible affects of suicide as they are lived. These theoretical engagements are illustrated through an empirical study which used collaborative, arts-based discussion groups about suicide. The groups were held with 14 people, all affected in different ways by suicide, and attending a community-based mental health centre in a semi-rural location in Scotland, UK. A narrative-informed analysis of data generated through these groups shows the creative potential of both arts-based methodologies, and interpretive sociologies, in deepening understanding of how inequalities in rates of suicide may be experienced and made sense of. We illustrate this via two related metaphors (‘the point’ and ‘the edge’) which recurred in the data. Our analysis underlines the vital relevance of sociology to suicide studies – and the urgent need for diverse sociological engagement and action on this topic.
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Post by Admin on Jan 18, 2024 18:05:04 GMT
Dozens of suicide deaths registered in Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole – as Government launches plan to reduce deaths Story by Adam Care, Data Reporter www.msn.com/en-gb/news/uknews/dozens-of-suicide-deaths-registered-in-bournemouth-christchurch-and-poole-as-government-launches-plan-to-reduce-deaths/ar-AA1nbFdhDozens of suicide deaths were registered in Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole in 2022, new figures show. Mental health charities warned preventable deaths would persist without significant investment. New data from the Office for National Statistics shows 67 deaths from suicide were registered in Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole in 2022, the most recent year full figures are available. This was up from 43 in 2021 and 2020. There was a slight increase in the number of deaths registered as suicide across England and Wales in 2022, with the annual total rising from 5,583 to 5,642. However, the rate per 100,000 people remained steady at 10.7. Over the last three years of available data, the suicide rate in Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole stood at 14.2 deaths per 100,000 people. This was an increase on 2017-19 – the three-year period leading up to the start of the Covid-19 pandemic – when it was 13. The figures record deaths based on the year they were registered, but it can take months or even years for a suicide to be registered at an inquest. In September, the Government published its five-year suicide prevention strategy. It included a commitment to improve support for people who self-harm, and for those bereaved by suicide. Plans to tackle harmful digital content about suicide and promote online safety are also a part of the strategy. However, Julie Bentley, CEO of Samaritans said "a more ambitious approach to suicide prevention" was needed. Ms Bentley warned the strategy "will only take us so far without investment at both a national and local level". Marjorie Wallace, chief executive of the mental health charity SANE, welcomed the new strategy, saying over half of all calls to their helpline now mention suicide. She said more than a third of suicides could be prevented if people were given help and treatment before they reached crisis point. Ms Wallace added: "With psychiatric services in many places struggling to cope with demand, it is paramount that resources are made available to back up the plans set out in this strategy, so that professional support can be made available to those at risk of suicide." Lourdes Colclough, head of suicide prevention at Rethink Mental Illness, said there was rarely one single trigger for suicide, but financial issues, social isolation, housing insecurity and problems at work, school, or home are among the common factors. She added: "We can’t lose sight of the fact that suicide is preventable, and key to this is more work from the Government to tackle the drivers of mental ill-health." A spokesperson for the Department for Health and Social Care said its new strategy includes more than 100 measures, with a focus on prevention and earlier intervention. They added: "In August, the Government also launched a £10 million fund for the voluntary sector in England to carry out crucial work to prevent suicides and save lives. "We’re also investing £2.3 billion extra a year into mental health services to help an additional two million people access NHS-funded mental health support by 2024." Contact Samaritans for free at any time on 116 123 or visit www.samaritans.org.
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Post by Admin on Feb 10, 2024 19:32:16 GMT
The social model of disability and suicide prevention June 2015 DOI:10.1332/policypress/9781447314578.003.0012 In book: Madness, distress and the politics of disablement (pp.153-167) www.researchgate.net/publication/306212879_The_social_model_of_disability_and_suicide_preventionAbstract This chapter is a transcript of an interview with David Webb, the author of Thinking about Suicide, who completed what is thought to be the world’s first PhD on suicide by a suicide survivor. The chapter explores David’s support for the inclusion of mental distress within the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. It considers the value of the social model for people experiencing suicidal feelings, and as a potential antidote to the increasing medicalisation of suicide. The chapter includes a discussion of the contested nature of impairment in mental health and of the relationship between disability and discrimination. It argues for the development of a social model of madness which is based upon, not separate from, the Social Model of Disability.
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