A recent study shared that spending time to talk to someone with suicidal tendencies could make quite a difference in their lives. Giving people who have attempted to take their lives in their own hands a private and secure space to vent their feelings and unravel their emotional turmoil proved to be beneficial in uplifting their outlook in life.
The research, which has been published in Lancet Psychiatry, covered information gathered from more than 5,000 Danish individuals identified who have made attempts to take their own lives. According to the researchers from John Hopkins University, the five year's worth of data they obtained revealed that the suicide rate of a group conducting psychosocial counseling sessions was 26 percent less than those who did not attend these talks. The period covered in determining the effect of the talk therapy sessions spanned until 20 years from the time the individuals sought the treatment.
The health data originally studied by the researchers listed 65,000 individuals who attempted to commit suicide from January 1, 1992 to December 31, 2010. Among the group, roughly 5,000 sought psychosocial treatment at the suicide prevention clinics in Denmark. The individuals closely examined in the study were those who willingly went to the prevention clinics approximately six to ten times to attend talk therapy sessions. By comparing the progress made by people who went for therapies with those who did not, the researchers found notable difference in the way they deal with their suicidal tendencies.
After a year of attending the psychosocial sessions in the prevention clinics, 27 percent of the more than 5,000 individuals were discovered to have diminished urges to commit suicide again. In addition, 38 percent of these observed persons had a reduced possibility of dying due to other causes compared with those not attending the talk therapy sessions.
Five years following the first time these individuals sought treatment, the researchers found 26 percent less suicides. The study then went on to disclose that 229 for every 100,000 individuals were saved by these talk therapy sessions compared with the data of 314 per 100,000 for those who did not take part in the psychosocial treatment.
"Our findings provide a solid basis for recommending that this type of therapy be considered for populations at risk for suicide," declared lead researcher Dr. Elizabeth Stuart.
Annette Erlangsen, the lead author of the research, explained that the study was conducted to help people who have attempted suicide as they comprise a "high-risk population."
"Now we have evidence that psychosocial treatment--which provides support, not medication--is able to prevent suicide in a group at high risk of dying by suicide," Erlangsen shared.
At present, the researchers announced that additional information should still be gathered to determine the best kind of therapy for these individuals.
