We found that the risk of suicide is almost twice as high in people who experienced a TBI compared with people who had no TBI records. The risk was especially high in the first period after the TBI incident and
Internationale media
Washington Post
Reuters
ABC News
The Telegraph (
The study has been published in JAMA.
DRISP: Trine Madsen, Merete Nordentoft & Annette Erlangsen
Partners:
International research has shown an increased suicide rate among people in prison. However, studies have yet to address age structural differences. In this
Findings from the study
Link to study
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/13811118.2020.1746943
DRISP: Britt Morthorst, Charlotte Mühlmann, Trine Madsen, Merete Nordentoft
og Annette Erlangsen
Partners
Losing a loved one to suicide can be a traumatic and stressful experience, and studies show that bereaved by suicide themselves have an increased risk of stress-related illnesses and suicidal behavior. To determine the burden related to being bereaved, Annette Erlangsen at DRISP is involved in an international research project with researchers from University College London.
The study examined register data on 32,248 individuals living in Denmark who died by suicide in Denmark between 1980 and 2016, as well as identifying their relatives in the form of parents, children, siblings, and partners.
Having lost a loved one to suicide was associated with a 2.8 times higher risk of suicide compared to people who had not lost a loved one. The study also showed that 0.69% of all suicides in Denmark could be prevented if all factors that increase the risk of suicide among relatives of people who have died by suicide could be addressed. This corresponds to 60% of suicides among bereaved by suicide.
Bereaved by suicide have an increased risk of developing suicidal behavior themselves, and, although these suicides only account for a relatively small proportion of the total number of suicides, it is important to provide support to this group.
The project has received funding from the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. You can find the study here: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/acps.13493
DRISP: Annette Erlangsen
Partner:
Neurological disorders have severe impacts on people’s lives in terms of both disability and dependency and have been linked to suicide. Yet, a comprehensive overview was lacking. This study examined whether people with specific neurological disorders die by suicide more often than other people. The study was based on the register data covering the entire population of Denmark during 1980-2016.
The findings from study, which was published in JAMA, shows that people with neurological disorders have a 75% higher suicide rate than people with no neurological disorders. Still, suicide deaths are rare events. While the suicide rate for the general population was around 20 per 100,000, the rate for people with neurological disorders is around 40 per 100,000 person-years. One out of 150 persons diagnosed with a neurological disorder dies by suicide. For severe neurological diseases, such as Huntington’s, one out of 61 diagnosed went on to die by suicide. This study is the most comprehensive assessment of neurological disorders’ link to suicide conducted to date.
The study shows that people who have been diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) or Huntington’s disease have a particular high risks, as the suicide rate associated with these disorders is 4-5 times higher than in the general population. People who have been exposed to traumatic brain injury, multiple sclerosis, or epilepsy have a suicide rate, which is double the level of the one found among those with no such disorders.
People with dementia were found to have a 2-3 time higher suicide rate during the first three months after being diagnosed. On the other hand, people who had been diagnosed with dementia more than a year ago were found to have a lower suicide rate than the general population.
– This is the first time we have examined this many different neurological disorders to gain a more detailed understanding of when risk of suicide is pronounced. These insights can help us shape dedicated preventive effort says Dr. Annette Erlangsen, lead author and senior researcher at Danish Research Institute for Suicide Prevention (DRISP). The project has received support from the Psychiatric Research Foundation, Region of Southern Denmark.
Link to study:
https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/article-abstract/2760389
DRISP: Annette Erlangsen, Merete Nordentoft
Partners:
People with schizophrenia have an increased risk of premature mortality compared to the general population. This study aimed to quantify which types of causes of death contributed to
The study has been published in Schizophrenia Research
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0920996418306339#f0005
DRISP: Annette Erlangsen & Merete Nordentoft
Partners:
Although deliberate self-harm is a strong predictor of suicide, evidence for effective interventions is missing. The aim of this study was to examine whether psychosocial therapy after self-harm was linked to lower risks of repeated self-harm, suicide, and general mortality.
Our findings show a lower risk of repeated deliberate self-harm and general mortality in recipients
The project was supported by Danish Health Insurance Foundation; the Research Council of Psychiatry, Region of Southern Denmark; the Research Council of Psychiatry, Capital Region of Denmark; and the Strategic Research Grant from Health Sciences, Capital Region of Denmark.
The project in the media
Information
TV2
Politiken
Kristeligt Dagblad
Jyllandsposten
DR
Abroad
New York Times
BBC
The Washington Post
Bloomberg News
The study was published in Psychological Medicine and Lancet Psychiatry.
DRISP: Annette Erlangsen & Merete Nordentoft
Partners:
Family studies
The study was published in Molecular Psychiatry.
The project was funded by the iPSYCH-grant from the Danish Lundbeck Foundation
DRISP: Annette Erlangsen & Merete Nordentoft
Partners:
Findings suggest that infections might be linked to the development of psychiatric disorders and suicidal
The study was published in JAMA Psychiatry.
The project has received support from the Lundbeck Foundation.
DRISP: Annette Erlangsen, Trine Madsen, og Merete Nordentoft
Partners:
Media reporting of suicidal behavior can be beneficial as well as harmful. Dramatic and sensational descriptions may lead to increased suicidal behavior in the population while objective reporting with
DRISP: Britt
Partners:
Paracetamol is reported to be the most frequently used drug for overdoses in European countries.
The method applied was a nationwide register study investigating the trend in hospital admissions for non-opioid analgesic poisonings before and after the implementation of age and pack size restriction in Denmark in 2011 and 2013, respectively. The trend in rates of severe poisonings was also investigated using nationwide laboratory data as blood tests taken routinely during admission in the period 2011-2013. After the age and the pack size
We concluded that a significant reduction in trends of poisoning by non-opioid analgesics treated in hospitals and fewer severe poisonings was observed after the legislative changes in Denmark.
Link to the study: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S016503271932957X
The project in the media
Politiken
DRISP: Britt Morthorst
Partners:
The aim was to investigate the effect of assertive outreach focusing on problem-solving and escort to after-treatment compared to standard treatment in patients with a current suicide attempt measures as subsequent suicidal events within a year from index attempt. The study was an RCT (n=243) offering 8-10 home consolations in six months consisting of supportive consultations and escort to all kinds of after-treatment (e.g. GPs, alcohol units, somatic and psychiatric treatment and social services) in addition to safety planning, family support and crisis intervention. The study period was 207-2010. Results showed no difference in the repetition frequency between groups (17% equally). Also, there were no difference in the use of health care or social service use. The conclusion was that assertive outreach was not recommend compared to standard treatment in Denmark where standard treatment is already of high quality due to suicide preventions clinics.
https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT00700089
DRISP: Britt Morthorst
Partners:
Is the suicide rate in Denmark increasing or decreasing? Effective suicide prevention requires vigilant monitoring of suicide trends. The aim of this study was to assess the change in the Danish suicide rate over time using joinpoint regression analysis. The suicide rate fell sharply between 1980 and 1999 in Denmark, but since then the decrease has been modest, especially since 2007. Further reduction in the suicide rate requires new and effective measures. The study is published in Danish Medical Bulletin
DRISP: Susanne Dyvesether, Annette Erlangsen & Merete Nordentoft
Partners:
Workplace bullying can be considered a stressful event, but there is little knowledge about its association with suicidal behavior. The aim of this research project was to investigate whether people who had experienced workplace bullying had a higher risk of suicidal behavior than people who had not been exposed to it.
In several large Danish surveys, more than 98,000 employees had been asked about experiences of workplace bullying. These data were linked to registry data, so that researchers could examine how many of the respondents were recorded with suicidal behavior over the subsequent 10 years from 2004-2014. The findings showed that over 10% of the people who had reported experienced workplace bullying. People who had been exposed to workplace bullying had a 1.6 times higher risk of suicidal behavior when compared to those who had not experienced bullying. The study was one of the few, which have documented this association in data where it could be determined that the bullying had been reported prior to the observed suicidal behavior.
The project has received funding from the Psychiatric Research Foundation, Region of Southern Denmark.
You can find the study here: https://www.sjweh.fi/article/4034
DRISP: Annette Erlangsen
Partners:
People belonging to sexual minority groups have higher levels of suicidality than heterosexuals. However, findings regarding suicide death are sparse. Using national data from Denmark and Sweden, this study investigated whether individuals entering a same-sex marriage have higher suicide rates than those entering opposite-sex marriage.
The findings revealed that people in same-sex marriages have a 1.5-fold higher suicide rate when compared to people living in opposite-sex marries. Over the periods 1989-2002 and 2003-16, the rate of suicides among people in same-sex unions fell by 46%, compared to a decline of about 28% in the number of suicides by people in heterosexual relationships.
“Although suicide rates in the general populations of Denmark and Sweden have been decreasing in recent decades, the rate for those living in same-sex marriage declined at a steeper pace, which has not been noted previously,” the study, which followed 28,000 people in same-sex partnerships for an average of 11 years, concludes Annette
Link to study
DRISP: Annette Erlangsen, Merete Nordentoft
Partners:
