Suicide Research
Translational Epidemiologist receives JKBF Award at ISSR
Once again JKBF partnered with the International Academy of Suicide Research (IASR) and the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP) to award an early career scientist investigating biological factors that may contribute to suicidal behaviors. At the 2023 International Summit on Suicide Research the third James Kirk Bernard Foundation Award for Excellence in the Biological Exploration of Suicide was presented to […]
Time Zones, Chronobiology and Suicide
Work from the Postolache lab provides insight on the effects of day light and time zones on sleep and mortality from suicide and transportation accidents and was recently presented at the European Symposium on Suicide and Suicidal Behavior. JKBF provided support for this work, and awarded a Dissemenation Award to Poyu Yen, a young investigator on […]
Suicide Rates Have Dropped but Many Concerns Persist
National statistics have shown a decline in suicide deaths in both 2019 and 2020, touted by some as a shift in the tide that has shown increases over decades. Despite these two data points, underlying factors and trends indicate that there are still areas of concern. First, the pandemic and its ripple effects have resulted […]
A Clinician asks… ‘Could Sleep Help End the Youth Mental Health Crisis?’
From the Clinician As her previous contribution showed, Dr. Kathleen Mackenzie’s blended insights as a clinician with lived experience provide important perspective. In a recent piece in Psychology Today, Dr. Mackenzie posed the question, Could Sleep Help End the Youth Mental Health Crisis? and set forth her arguments for targeting improved sleep for our youth. In this article […]
JKBF Awardee Publishes in SLEEP
In October, JKBF granted its second research award to Nikolaj Kjær Høier, a young scientist investigating biological factors important to suicide risk presenting at the 2021 International Summit on Suicide Research. We are pleased to share that his work has recently been published in SLEEP, the journal of the Sleep Research Society (SRS). Mr. Høier‘s paper, Association between hospital-diagnosed sleep […]
Recapping The Interplay of Environmental Exposures and Mental Health: Setting an Agenda
by Liz Bell Previously we reported insights on considerations of the often-overlooked impacts of environmental exposures on mental health in a series covering the National Academies of Science’s 2021 workshop, “The Interplay Between the Environment and Mental Health.” Change is starting to occur, as the organizers now report, ‘Science and policy experts in the environmental […]
Statistics Show Reduction in Lives Lost to Suicide in 2020, Continued Need for Research and Prevention
Most of us will agree that 2020 was a year unlike anything we had experienced, as the world shut down in the face of a pandemic threat that was confusing, invasive, and ever-evolving. As we became more isolated and anxious, it was heartening to see open conversations about mental health and widespread recommendations for supportive […]
Chronic Illness, A Factor in Suicide Risk
By Meghan Bellamy In recent years CDC Statistics have reflected that eight of the top ten causes of death in the US were chronic illnesses, with the tenth being suicide. In 2020, that changed with the insertion of Covid pandemic deaths ranking third, yet chronic disease and suicide remain prominent causes of death in […]
The Cost of a Life…and a Need for More Suicide Prevention Research
As so many of us know all too well, the costs of suicide are immeasurable, extending beyond the unfathomable loss of an individual to considerable lifelong impacts on family, friends, coworkers, communities, and society. As this recent report on the Economic Cost of Injury from the CDC highlights, losses associated with suicide are also economic, costly, […]
Internal Rhythms, Sleep, and Suicide
In this recent summary From the Scientist, the researchers highlight how chronotype, or internal rhythms, raise the risk of sleep disturbance and associated suicidal thoughts in individuals more inclined to be night owls. Studies show that the restoration and reduced stress response that comes from sleep occurs during rapid eye moment (REM) conditions, which tend to […]