HealthDay (5/2, Preidt) reports that according to the results of a study sponsored by the National Institutes of Health and presented at the American Association for Geriatric Psychiatry’s annual meeting, “health, money and family problems – not depression – are the main factors that trigger thoughts of death and suicide among elderly Americans.” The study, which included “nearly 3,500 New York City residents, aged 65 to 75, found that factors other than depression were responsible for thoughts of death and suicide 75 percent of the time.”

Related Links:

— “When Older Adults Consider Suicide, Depression May Not Be Main Reason,” Robert Preidt, HealthDay, May 1, 2014.

USA Today (5/2, Painter) reports that according to a study published online May 1 in the journal The Lancet Psychiatry, “detailed, high-profile newspaper stories about individual suicides may have played a role in creating suicide clusters among young people, at least in the 1980s and 1990s.” Researchers arrived at that conclusion after having collected and then analyzed “information on 48 communities where clusters of suicides in youths ages 13 to 20 occurred between 1988 and 1996.” An editorial accompanying the study suggests that “an obvious next step is looking at whether discussions of suicide in social media might lead to copycat cases.”

Related Links:

— “Newspaper coverage linked with youth suicide clusters,” Kim Painter, USA Today, May 1, 2014.

The Wall Street Journal (5/1, A17, Vilensky, Subscription Publication) reports that an anonymous current student at Princeton University has filed a lawsuit that has broad implications for US colleges dealing with students who attempt suicide. The suit claims that Princeton violated the student’s rights under the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination and the Americans with Disabilities Act in that the university did not provide reasonable accommodation for his mental illness.

Related Links:

— “Suicide Suit Involving Princeton Is ‘Bellwether’,” Mike Vilensky, Wall Street Journal, April 30, 2014.

On its front page, the Boston Globe (4/28, Matchan) reports on the “emerging — and vocal — movement of suicide-attempt survivors who are stepping out of the shadows and speaking out about their experiences.” In so doing, attempt survivors hope to address the social stigma surrounding suicide and encourage more potentially suicidal people to get help. The Globe profiles several such attempt survivors who are now sharing their stories.

Related Links:

— “Suicide-attempt survivors go public in hope of aiding many at risk,” Linda Matchan, Boston Globe, April 29, 2014.

The Kaiser Health News (4/26, Gillespie) “Capsules” blog reported that “a push for new funding – and the use of existing funds – may soon make more resources available to help identify” veterans needing “help with depression or other mental illness through the National Council for Behavioral Health’s ‘Mental Health First Aid training.’”

NCBH, along with other groups advocating for those with mental illnesses, is “seeking part of the at least $15 million allocated to train first responders, which include police, nurses and college administrators, to identify the warning signs of mental illness among veterans, teaching ‘de-escalation’ techniques and referring people at risk to” mental healthcare professionals.

Related Links:

— “First-Aid Training For Mental Health Could Aid At-Risk Veterans,” Lisa Gillespie, Kaiser Health News, April 26, 2014.