Suicide Prevention

Over recent years research into suicidal behaviour has burgeoned, and the third edition of this successful pocketbook reflects major developments in the evidence base and clinical practice.

New chapters cover risk assessment and system-wide approaches to suicide prevention, and the role of clinical guidelines and national policies is also considered. This edition features extensive updates to the epidemiology of suicidal behaviour across the world, and also considers the individual and societal causes of suicide, particularly the effect of recent economic downturns in many countries. The chapter on biological factors includes the current research on the genetics and neuroscience of suicide. The chapters on interventions discuss the latest evidence from systematic reviews and new randomized controlled trials and highlight implications for clinical practice. The positive and negative impacts of the web and social media on suicidal behaviour are a major focus of research activity and new sections have been included to reflect this. The ’Frequently Asked Questions’ section was well received in the previous edition and this has been revised further to include new/updated FAQs on euthanasia, assisted suicide, and suicide martyrdom.

Part of the Oxford Psychiatry Library series, this useful handbook is an invaluable resource and quick-reference guide.

Navneet Kapur, Professor of Psychiatry and Population Health, University of Manchester and Honorary Consultant in Psychiatry, Greater Manchester Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust, Robert D. Goldney, Emeritus Professor, Discipline of Psychiatry, School of Medicine, University of Adelaide

Navneet Kapur is Professor of Psychiatry and Population Health at the University of Manchester, UK and an Honorary Consultant Psychiatrist at Greater Manchester Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust. He has spent the last 20 years researching suicidal behaviour and is an internationally leading authority on its causes, treatment and prevention. He has over 300 scientific publications and has led committees for the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) including those developing guidelines for how all clinical staff should treat people with self-harm. He sits on the main advisory group on suicide for the Department of Health in England.

Robert (Bob) D. Goldney is Emeritus Professor, having retired as Head of the Discipline of Psychiatry at the University of Adelaide. His main research focussed on suicidal behaviour and he has over 400 publications. He was a founding member of both Suicide Prevention Australia and the advisory committee which established Australia’s first suicide prevention strategy. He received a number of awards for his work, including the Stengel research award of the International Association for Suicide Prevention, the Louis Dublin Award for lifetime achievements in suicide prevention from the American Association of Suicidology, and a similar Lifetime Research Award of Suicide Prevention Australia. He is a past President of both the International Association of Suicide Prevention and the International Academy for Suicide Research.