Occupational Risk Factors for Suicide

Ambivalence about Suicide

• There is a strong underlying desire to live despite suicidal thoughts
• Occupational risk factors contribute to suicide rates, including:
  • High-risk jobs for men: farmworkers, fishermen, loggers, carpenters, miners, electricians, and installers
  • High-risk jobs for women: firefighters, police, and correctional officers
  • Workplace injuries and stress may lead to suicidal thoughts
  • Medical professionals, particularly psychiatrists, have a high suicide rate, while pediatricians have a lower rate

Effects of Suicide on Friends and Family

• Consistent themes among surviving friends:
  • Guilt and attempts to understand the tragedy
  • Development of risky behaviors
  • Altered relationships with friends
• Surviving family members, especially parents, often feel:
  • Guilt and responsibility
  • Increased rates of depression, anxiety, alcohol abuse, and marital difficulty

Suicide and Specific Populations

• Possible reasons for the increase in suicide among children and adolescents:
  • Social media use and substance abuse
  • Barriers to identification and treatment of depression
  • School experiences, such as racial discrimination, low teacher expectations, and inequitable discipline practices
  • Children of parents with strong religious beliefs have a lower risk of suicide ideation or attempts

Preventing Suicide

• Early detection and successful intervention are key
• Understanding risk and protective factors, including:
  • Self-referrals or referrals from concerned family or friends
  • Gatekeeper training to identify risk factors and screen for suicide
  • Three-step process: know risk factors, determine probability of suicide, and implement appropriate actions

Eating Disorders

• Anorexia nervosa:
  • Restricting: weight loss through severe dieting or exercising
  • Binge-eating/purging: self-induced vomiting, laxatives, or diuretics
  • Typically occurs in adolescent girls and young women, but a growing percentage of men are also diagnosed
• Physical complications of anorexia nervosa:
  • Highest mortality rate among eating disorders
  • Adolescents with anorexia have a 6x higher mortality rate than those without

Treatment for Substance-Use Disorders

• Disparity between those with substance-use disorders and those receiving treatment
• Treatment is most effective when it incorporates:
  • Best practices based on high-quality addiction research
  • Integrated care addressing underlying emotional difficulties
  • Use of self-help groups, mental health clinics, and inpatient and outpatient treatment centers
• Treatment for opioid-use disorder:
  • Early detoxification and therapy are critical
  • Synthetic opioids can reduce cravings without producing euphoria
  • Improved outcomes with behaviorally-oriented counseling, contingency management, and family counseling

Treatment for Neurocognitive Disorders

• Major neurocognitive disorder:
  • Significant decline in one or more cognitive areas
  • Ability to independently meet daily living demands is impaired
• Mild neurocognitive disorder:
  • Modest decline in at least one main cognitive area
  • Individuals can still participate in everyday activities, but may require extra time to complete tasks

Learn about the jobs that have high rates of suicide among men and women, including factors such as workplace injury and stress. Understand the importance of recognizing these risks.