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Early & Mid-Career Researchers' (EMCR) Forum 2019
We are pleased to confirm that registration and abstract submission is now open for the 4th Suicide & Self-harm Early and Mid-Career Researchers' Forum (EMCRF19) in Glasgow on 6th & 7th June. EMCRF19 is open to all working in the field of suicide and self-harm research, but it is specifically targeted at Early and Mid-Career Researchers. It will provide a space for support, networking, and collaborations among Masters, PhD, and Post-doctoral research students as well as more established researchers. |
SBRL Blog: Getting to know the world of suicide research
Getting to know the world of suicide research Some reflections from Anabel Soehlemann (Technical University of Dresden)  In the Lab, I was welcomed so warmly by everyone that I quickly felt part of the team. Still not expecting too much and figuring on making coffee and typing in data for most of the 8 weeks ahead, I was slightly overwhelmed, but excited by the idea of analysing a dataset of around 1,500 participants and writing a paper on my findings. Being busy on “my own project” and always having so many lovely people around to answer my questions, having a lunch or coffee break, or just a little chat, the 8 weeks just flew by. After getting to know the dataset and conducting a brief literature research, I decided to investigate the relationship between negative mood regulation expectancies (NMRE), a construct having its origins in Rotter’s Social Learning Theory, and suicidal ideation. Furthermore, I was interested in how perceived stress and depressive symptoms might explain (mediate) part of this relationship. My findings suggested that higher expectancies in one’s abilities to regulate a negative mood state may lead both directly and indirectly to lower suicidal ideation. Indirectly, high levels of NMRE were associated with less perceived stress and, in turn, to fewer depressive symptoms which again were associated with lower suicidal ideation. Watch this space as I finish the write up of the results! Even though my time in Glasgow went by far too quickly and I am now back in Dresden, there is still a lot of work ahead in editing and submitting the paper, and whether it gets published in the end or not, it was a great experience for me and I learned a lot, not only about statistical practice and suicide theory, but also a little about how it feels to be part of a scientific community. I am now motivated to think beyond my Master’s thesis, perhaps to do a PhD afterwards and stick with research for a little longer than I had imagined. I would like to thank Professor Rory O’Connor for giving me this opportunity and the whole SBRL team for all their support and for making this internship such a great experience and time! |
SBRL Blog: ESSSB17 - It’s great to feel part of the suicide research community
  , the opening ceremony included a very personal talk and performance from Belgian musician Selah Sue, patron of the “Te Gek!?” campaign to get young people to talk about mental health, highlighting her own battles with depression and suicidal thoughts. This was very touching and a fitting opening to Europe’s leading suicide research conference that attracted more than 600 delegatesMusician Selah Sue, patron of "Te Gek?!" As an early career researcher (ECR) attending conferences such as these can be daunting, as often you feel overwhelmed and out of place among more experienced researchers. However, the conference felt very inclusive, had a relaxed atmosphere that made it easier to talk to and interact with other researchers. This was aided by ECR-specific events, organised by IASP ECR group and Net ECR respectively, bringing together ECRs from different research labs and universities to support each other as well as have some fun! The oral parallel and poster sessions included work from many PhD and post doc researchers, and this added to feeling valued and included in what can be an intimidating setting.  A number of talks focussed on the media reporting of suicide and the negative effect that this can have upon subsequent suicide trends, although cautionary there was some hopeful discussion of the Papageno effect (Thomas Niederkrotenthaler, Vienna), whereby positive reporting can have a protective influence. Indeed, a highlight of the conference was a symposium organised by Ellen Townsend (and including Rory O’Connor, Tiago Zortea, ex-SBRLer Olivia Kirtley) on engaging the public with research, highlighting the potential benefits of blogs, twitter, TV appearances and public engagement initiatives such as Café Connect. It was clear that there was much to be gained from harnessing both traditional and social media platforms to promote and disseminate research to help shape how society views and understands suicide and self-harm. As well as helping break down the stigma attached to suicide, it can help people know how to talk to those who are suicidal and hopefully change how people think about and communicate about suicide.  Tiago Zortea presenting his PhD findings on attachment. As well as talks by Rory O’Connor, the conference included talks and posters on the research of other SBRL members. This included findings from Tiago Zortea’s research on how perceptions of past parenting influenced future attachment styles and how this influences feelings of defeat and entrapment. Seonaid Cleare discussed her findings of an experimental study investigating how a self-compassion meditation influences autobiographical memory in those who have a self-harm history. I also presented my own PhD research which highlighted that among those with a suicidal history making unfavourable social comp  arisons on socialmedia may lead to feelings of defeat. Additionally, Dave Sandford presented a poster of his systematic review on the impact that losing a patient to suicide can have on mental health professionals. The opportunity to present our research was appreciated and the feedback received from others was positive, which is very motivating and validating. Dave Sandford's poster on the impact of the death of a patient by suicide upon mental health practicioners  Seonaid Cleare presenting her PhD findings on self-compassion.  Karen Wetherall presenting her PhD findings on social comparison on Facebook. Overall, the conference was a really enjoyable experience that exposed me to a wide range of interesting, rigorous and thoughtful research that spanned the many different disciplines that make up the field of suicide research. Often the difficulty was on deciding which session to attend! The social highlight of the event has to be the ESSSB band comprised entirely of suicide researchers (including ex-SBRL member Olivia Kirtley on drums together with Kees van Heeringen, Ellen Townsend, Derek de Beurs and Erkki Isometsa) who made their debut performance at the conference dinner; it was a great surprise and they were brilliant! (Check them out on twitter). It is great to see how researchers of different countries, stages and disciplines come together at conferences - it really helps ECRs to feel part of a supportive suicide research community.
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Our mental health: We need more stories like Ruth Davidson's
 I awoke this morning to see a timeline full of tweets about Scottish Tory leader Ruth Davidson’s admission (in a Sunday Times Magazine interview including an extract from her forthcoming book) that she struggled with her mental health 20 years ago; that she had self-harmed and had been suicidal. Here are some quick thoughts. Irrespective of your political allegiance (incidentally, I have never voted Conservative), this feels important. Someone who could potentially be First Minister of Scotland talking openly about her mental health, this is another step forward in our national discourse. Mental health problems can and do affect all of us. Sadly, self-harm and suicidal thoughts are all too common in Scotland. In a recent study of ours, one in nine 18-35 years olds reported having attempted suicide and one in six told us that they had engaged in self-harm at least once in their lives. Part of me was surprised by Davidson’s admission given her public persona but another part of me wasn’t – about a decade ago she interviewed me for BBC Radio Scotland about a study on adolescent self-harm. I remember being struck by her self-assured smile and also that she got-it; she seemed genuinely interested in adolescent mental health. It is evident now that she had personal insight. Like many of us, Davidson’s outward public persona – gregarious, strong and driven – masks (or is a consequence of) a history of psychological pain. It is worth reminding ourselves every now and then that none of us know what is hidden behind a smile. The ripples following suicide are vast, stretching way beyond close family and friends. Davidson talks about a boy from her village who took his own life when she was 17 and although she doesn’t know why his death affected her so deeply she “went into a total tailspin.” The fact that someone’s death, not a relative or a close friend can have such a profound impact on Davidson is consistent with the research evidence on ‘exposure to suicide’. The latest research estimates that, for every suicide death, 135 people are ‘exposed’ (knew the person who died) and some may need clinical help or support. Also, the effect of this exposure can be long-lasting. Today is especially poignant for me. 10 years ago to the day, I lost a close, close friend to suicide. Even after all these years, the pain of this loss is still raw; such that I’ve been taken aback by how emotional I’ve been in the lead up to the anniversary. Davidson’s story and my own personal experience remind me why it is so important that we support those bereaved by suicide and never assume anyone’s mental health. “It was like a smothering black blanket over my head, cutting out the sky. It was heavy, constricting, suffocating. It took away hope and energy and life” Ruth Davidson Davidson’s description of her depression as a black blanket powerfully captures the cognitive constriction or tunnel vision that often characterises those who are suicidal: being overwhelmed, exhausted, trapped, without any hope of rescue. Sadly for approximately 700 people in Scotland each year, the impossibility of seeing a positive future, of perceiving no reasons to live, of feeling a burden on others and this unrelenting sense of disconnection come together in a perfect storm of entrapment that contributes to their suicide. As today marks the end of World Suicide Prevention Week, it is timely to highlight this year’s theme: Working Together To Prevent Suicide. We all have a role to play in reducing entrapment, reaching out, promoting connectedness and challenging mental health stigma. Davidson has made a welcome contribution to challenging that stigma by speaking out. We need more stories like Davidson’s. Ultimately Davidson’s story is one of hope. If you are reading this and are in a dark place, overwhelmed by the ‘black blanket’; though it is hard to believe it now, convinced that things will never change, that you’ll never recover and that the pain will never end. It does. It can. And it will. The last line of the interview, to me, is the show-stopper: “It’s being happy, Decca. That’s what it’s about. I haven’t always been happy. And what a difference it makes.” It is vital, truly a matter of life and death, that we do not take our mental health for granted. Without our mental health, what do we have? We need to work on it, nurture it, protect it. Rory O'Connor 16th September 2018 |
Horizon: Stopping Male Suicide
As part of the new Horizon: Stopping Male Suicide documentary, Dr Xand Van Tulleken travelled to Scotland (to a wet and cold Loch Lomond) to interview Rory O'Connor about why three quarters of all suicides in the UK are by men. The programme was first broadcast on 22nd August 2018 on BBC2. Rory talks briefly about some of the work being conducted within SBRL and about the importance of asking directly whether someone is suicidal or not. It could save their life! |
Podcast & new open access paper on IMV model
 Rory O'Connor & Olivia Kirtley (KU Leuven) publish latest version of Integrated Motivational-Volitional Model of Suicidal Behaviour (IMV model) in Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B. Paper available here.   Also, check out Rory O'Connor's new 10 min podcast about IMV model below  |
Review of Matt Haig’s latest book Notes on a Nervous Planet
Rory O'Connor's Notes on Matt Haig’s latest book Notes on a Nervous Planet  I was delighted to find Notes on a Nervous Planet (Canongate) on the shelves of WH Smith at Gatwick Airport on Tuesday (a little ahead of 5th July, the scheduled publication date). I am a big fan of Reasons to Stay Alive, Matt Haig’s personal memoir about suicide risk, depression and anxiety. I was keen to see what Matt would do next with the RTSA follow-up. And I wasn’t disappointed. Here are my notes (see what I did there J) on a NOANP including some brief thoughts that came to mind as I read the book. I had the pleasure of doing two book festivals with Matt when RTSA was published a couple of years ago. And I remember joking with him at the Cheltenham Literature Festival (where I interviewed him on stage about RTSA) that when I had agreed to interview him I hadn’t yet read his book - and was concerned that it would be another wishy-washy self-help book – which, if true, would have made our gig together a tad tricky! Thankfully it wasn’t; it was eloquent, touching and it really resonated with me, like it did for countless thousands of others. Indeed, I know of many people who struggle with living daily who have said that RTSA has helped them while in their own tunnels of despair. On Tuesday, when I got my hands on NOANP, I had a slightly different concern. Would his writing resonate with me again and live up to the promise/delight of RTSA? I am pleased to say that it does – but it is different; in some ways it is a follow-up to RTSA, delivering a personal narrative interweaved with general observations but in other ways it is not, as it goes much further beyond his personal experience than in RTSA, drawing more on research (and other) evidence. I also felt that it had more of an explicit self-help feel to it. No bad thing, though. It also covers the challenges of modern life, which other books do, but he does so in an accessible, personal and engaging way. I read NOANP in one extended sitting today (accompanied by seemingly unending Glaswegian sunshine which I spent the morning and afternoon trying to avoid burning in). So, what follows are my very immediate reflections (with little editing, so apologies for any typos etc). Unlike RTSA, NOANP focuses on how “the world is messing with our minds” and offers suggestions on how we can be happier in a chaotic and technologically-driven world. Climate change, social media, psychology, social comparison, fake news, cosmetic surgery, loneliness, work, phones, the sky and psycho-grams all get a mention. Like RTSA, Matt draws upon his own experiences of anxiety, panic disorder and depression - and much more besides. His descriptions of his own struggles are beautifully written and emotion-laden; once again conveying the complexity of his, as well as all of our mental health. Late in the book, the importance of keeping everyday concerns in perspective is brought home to him when his mother undergoes major surgery. Nobody writes lists better than Matt Haig does. I wish I could write lists like Matt Haig does. Even when Matt is writing about something that we already know (e.g., the pros and cons of living in a more connected world, the internet and so on.), he always manages to make me think anew about it – and through his eloquent prose, I cannot help but reconsider how it affects my life and my world. Two observations from NOANP: Distraction isn’t a long-term solution. Life is not a tequila to be slammed. A personal observation: Everyone should read Bonjour Tristesse (by Francoise Sagan) which is mentioned a couple of times in NOANP. I read it for A-Level French and I can still remember being transfixed by it: I learned about sadness and the appreciation of living from reading it. It was clearly also a big hit with Matt!  As the title of the book suggests, some of chapters are brief, personal observations – notes – and others are much longer, integrating concerns about the world with evidence. I really liked the mix as I did in RTSA. I especially like the imagery that some of the brief chapters evoke (e.g., ‘A note from the beach’, ‘Maybe’). Similar to RTSA, each chapter has a standalone message, as well as contributing to the broader narrative of navigating a messy world in hopefully a safer and more meaningful way. There is something for all of us in the book. Best phrase: “invisible cyclone” to describe a panic attack. Best chapter title: “The mannequins who inflict pain” (or “I am what I am what I am”). Good advice: “Never let a stranger’s negative opinion of you become your own negative opinion of you.” p.229 Made me smile: Matt describing when his wife Andrea chastises him for being on the internet: “She held up her palm. ‘Okay. I don’t want the TED talk.’” p.98. NOANP in 8 words: stimulating, compassionate, thoughtful, engaging, human, hope, perspective, wellbeing Key messages for me from NOANP: 1 Uncertainty is a certainty and that’s okay. 2 Be in the now, not yesterday or tomorrow Conclusion: I always learn and feel more from reading Matt Haig. And it makes me a better person. Bookshops are a much better place as a result of his work. If RTSA was for you, then so is NOANP. So go buy it. Rory O’Connor 30th June 2018
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Insight: What tips men over the edge of despair?
 Check out Dani Garavelli's recent long read article on male suicide that was published in Scotland on Sunday recently. She interviewed a range of contributors including SBRL's Rory O'Connor (pictured below; photo credit: John Devlin). |
Ask The UofG Expert – Suicide Research & Prevention
 Professor Rory O’Connor, Director of the Suicidal Behaviour Research Laboratory, was live on the UofG Facebook page on Wednesday 9 May to answer any questions about suicide research and prevention.  This was the second in the series of ‘Ask the UofG Expert’ live facebook videos. The series aims to provide an interactive platform to allow audiences to engage with our research.  The Facebook Live Q&A is available to watch again here. If you have been affected by any of the issues discussed in our Facebook Live and would like to talk to someone, please reach out. Support is available at any of the following places
Free and available 24 hours a day to provide confidential emotional support for people who are experiencing feelings of distress or despair, including those which may lead to suicide.
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New paper on Integrated Motivational-Volitional (IMV) Model
In a new paper, Rory O'Connor and Olivia Kirtley provide their latest thinking on the Integrated Motivational-Volitional Model (IMV) of suicidal behaviour including some refinements of the model since its original exposition in 2011 (see Figures 1 & 2, below). They describe the theoretical origins of the IMV model, the key premises
underpinning the model, empirical tests of the model and future research directions. Please double-click on the link to read the paper: O'Connor, R.C., Kirtley, O.J. (in press). The Integrated Motivational-Volitional Model of Suicidal Behaviour. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B.   |
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