A simple phone call can reduce the risk of suicide

Individuals who have gone to the emergency room once for a suicide attempt are at high risk of death. To return after their release

A Columbia University study shows that the establishment of a safety plan and telephone follow-up of a patient who has already attempted to commit suicide can greatly reduce the chances that he starts again. Graphic: JAMA Psychiatry

Now, one study has shown a direct way to reduce this risk: to call these patients.

"What has surprised me the most and most comforting, is that patients have repeated:" This intervention has saved my life, "said the author from the study, Barbara Stanley, of Columbia University, of the American Medical Association.

In the study, the staff of the emergency room created a safety plan with the patients who came to them after trying to commit suicide After the patients left, the hospital staff called them to check and see how the plan worked.

Pauline Stahlbrodt runs the health clinic She says her clinic is already doing much of what the study has done.

"Our standard practice is to do this phone follow-up," Stahlbrodt said. simple, but the reality is that you do not feel alone. "

Stahlbrodt said that it was Precisely planning security and calls in an emergency room environment may seem daunting.

The study found that this type of intervention reduced by about half the risk of suicidal behavior. Stanley said that is because the actual period of intense suicidal thoughts of a person is usually short-lived: from a few minutes to a few hours. Designing a safety plan with distractions like video games or calling friends can induce a person to walk through this dangerous window, she says, and the hospital's call to make sure that the plan works can make a huge difference. suicidal thoughts or knows someone who is can call the national suicide prevention hotline. This number is 1-800-273-8255.