A new study led by researchers from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in Baltimore, MD, suggests that short-term psychosocial counseling could significantly reduce rates of suicide attempts and deaths among individuals who have already tried to take their own lives.

Share on Pinterest Short-term counseling may significantly reduce suicide rates among high-risk individuals, according to new research.

Suicide is one of the 10 leading causes of death in the US, and it is estimated that more than 1 million Americans attempt to take their own lives each year.

According to the research team – led by Annette Erlangsen of the Department of Mental Health at Johns Hopkins – individuals who have already attempted suicide are at very high risk of a repeat attempt.

“We know that people who have attempted suicide are a high-risk population and that we need to help them,” says Erlangsen. “However, we did not know what would be effective in terms of treatment.”

The majority of people who attempt suicide have some form of mental disorder, such as depression or schizophrenia. These individuals may receive medication dependent on the type of disorder they have, which may help reduce their risk of suicide.

But in this study – published in The Lancet Psychiatry – Erlangsen and her team wanted to assess the effects of psychosocial counseling among individuals who have previously attempted suicide.