What is Suicidology?

The field of suicide prevention has some terms of art that sound like they are just plain made up. Like “suicidology” and “postvention.” Yet those weird-o words mean something really important when it comes to saving lives at risk of loss to suicide. I’m learning that this week.

So, what is “suicidology?” It’s a term for the research and study of suicide and suicide prevention. Many people see it as an area of study that crosses many disciplines, rather than being narrowly focused on psychology or psychiatry. The  American Association of Suicidology is a national organization of researchers, suicide prevention professionals, survivors of suicide and others committed to furthering research and evidence based prevention strategies.

I am honored to have been invited by the American Association of Suicidology to not only present at their annual conference in Portland, but to work with a rock star group of experts tomorrow to problem solve the integration of suicide prevention in primary care. This is especially exciting for me, given the work the Suicide Prevention Resource Center, Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium, and the Boards have put in to developing a pilot project in Alaska.

The Suicide Prevention Resource Center has developed a primary care suicide prevention toolkit to help physicians and community health providers screen and respond to patients at-risk for suicide. (This is the tool I’m hoping we can pilot in Alaska.) The National Association of Pediatric Nurse Practitioners will soon have a new online resource for pediatric nurse practitioners (I got to meet the creator, Dr. Ginger Biddle tonight at dinner). These are just two examples of efforts to help family practitioners, nurses, optometrists, dentists, and other primary care providers serve as a resource for early identification of suicide risk and better intervention to save lives.

I’ll be blogging about AAS and everything I learn this week, so please check back and share your thoughts and ideas. Together, we can all act to prevent suicide in Alaska.