It does not take much for soldiers to feel cared for

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<div data-thumb = "https://3c1703fe8d.site.internapcdn.net/newman/csz/news/tmb/2019/itdoesnttake.jpg" data-src = "https://3c1703fe8d.site.internapcdn.net/ newman / gfx / news / hires / 2019 / itdoesnttake.jpg "data-sub-html =" Members of the service received 11 short text messages for the study published in JAMA Psychiatry. Credit: UW Medicine ">

A soldier named Jerome Motto received benevolent letters from his country during the Second World War. They helped boost morale and later led to one of the first successful suicide interventions in the country.

Today, as military personnel are more mobile, researchers have tested the effectiveness of protection texts sent to active duty military personnel.

The study of 658 randomized participants at three military facilities was led by Kate Comtois, a professor of psychiatry and behavioral science at the University of Washington School of Medicine. The results were published on February 13 in JAMA Psychiatry with a podcast with the researchers.

Comtois said the most significant finding was that caring contacts reduced the chances of a suicide attempt. Contacts lowered the risk from 15% to 9%.

"Caring contacts are a totally different way of engaging and caring for suicidal people," she said. "This can both prevent suicidal behavior and provide support during times of stress and transition."

With regard to the main objectives – reduce the number of suicidal ideation and current suicide risk incidents, such as hospitalizations or medical evacuations – the study was not conclusive. But the study had compelling results and secondary results as well as clinical implications.

The study recruited Army and Marine Corps personnel identified as at risk of suicide at three bases in the United States. The control group received 11 text messages from a clinician, who engaged with members of the service, including calling them on the phone if they were experiencing urgent distress.

This simple intervention builds on the work of Jerome Motto, a Second World War soldier who became a psychiatrist and researcher. He used benevolent letters to carry out the first successful clinical trial to reduce the number of suicides.

The suicide rate among the military has always been lower than that of the general population. Today, however, the suicide rate among veterans is 50% higher than in the general population, according to the 2006-2016 report of the Department of Veterans Affairs on suicide. In 2018, the US military experienced the highest number of suicides among active duty personnel for at least six years. A total of 321 active-duty members lost their lives during the year (57 Marines, 68 sailors, 58 airmen, and 138 soldiers), according to Military.com.

In this study, just under 14% of the textual responses mentioned difficulties and difficulties, but after a few exchanges with a clinician, the service member felt better, said Amanda Kerbrat, researcher at the Department of Health. psychiatry and behavioral sciences of the UW.

"Most people did not seem to need much to understand that someone cared and watched them," she said.

During the study, which ran from April 2013 to September 2016, five service members reported that they were suicidal and that they had been called by a doctor. clinician immediately, said Kerbrat.

Two editorials of accompaniment in JAMA Psychiatry addressed the research of Comtois and his colleagues.

"Comtois and his collaborators have confirmed that it is possible to conduct valuable research in suicide prevention in the active armed forces," wrote three researchers from the University of California at San Diego, the Harvard Medical School and the University of Health Sciences in Bethesda. , Maryland.

Charles Hoge, of the Walter Reed Center for Psychiatry and Neuroscience at the Walter Reed Army Research Institute in Silver Spring, Maryland, has referred to this DoD flagship clinical trial study. [Department of Defense] Hoge, however, said the study combined with other intervention trials to produce essentially nil or inconclusive results among military and veteran populations, noting that only 30 percent of Veterans are being cared for by Veterans Affairs and he has outlined what needs to be understood and implemented to prevent more suicides.

For researchers, help texts can be implemented with certain guidelines.

"The intervention is ready for prime time," Comtois said, noting that health systems still had to solve problems such as who would pbad messages and guidelines for what to do. they would include. She and her colleagues are working on a free toolbox for health care providers.

Provided by
University of Washington