Suicide rates continue to increase above historical averages. Whatever we as mental health professionals are doing is not leading to winning the battle for better outcomes.
The reasons are several and complex. First, psychiatry’s ability to positively affect suicide rates is limited. For example, Luoma and colleagues reviewed 40 studies that reviewed patient contact with primary care and psychiatric providers within one month and one year before patients’ death by suicide.1 They found that within one year of death,
American Physician
