People who had attempted to commit suicide repeatedly can now be treated effectively with cognitive therapy programs. This procedure had been found
People who had attempted to commit suicide repeatedly can now be treated effectively with cognitive therapy programs. This procedure had been found to give better results than the other treatments used for treating people with such problems. The research findings were published in the current issue of JAMA.
Researchers from the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia had conducted a randomized controlled trial to determine whether a brief psychosocial intervention could reduce the rate of repeat suicide attempts over an 18-month interval. The study included 120 adults who attempted suicide and were evaluated at a hospital emergency department within 48 hours of the attempt. Sixty participants were randomized to receive 10 sessions of cognitive therapy and 60 to receive enhanced usual care with tracking and referral services.The central feature of cognitive therapy was the identification of thoughts, images, and core beliefs that were activated prior to the suicide attempt. Strategies were applied to address the identified thoughts and beliefs and participants were helped to develop adaptive ways of coping with stressors. Usual care included outpatient therapy and medication.
From baseline to the 18-month assessment, 13 participants (24.1 percent) in the cognitive therapy group and 23 participants (41.6 percent) in the usual care group made at least one subsequent suicide attempt.
Researchers said that participants in the cognitive therapy group were approximately 50 percent less likely to attempt suicide during the follow-up period than participants in the usual care group. The researchers also found that the severity of depression by one measurement was significantly lower for the cognitive therapy group than for the usual care group at the 6-month, 12-month, and 18-month assessments. The cognitive therapy group also had significantly less hopelessness than the usual care group at six months.
Source: Newswise
Medindia on Cognitive Therapy: Further information Cognitive Behavior Therapy: This is a new kind of therapy for mental health that uses cognitive therapy techniques and behavior therapy techniques together to bring about changes in the mental health conditions of patients suffering from depression, anxiety, post traumatic stress, obsessive compulsive disorder, bulimia nervosa etc. Suicidal tendencies: people who commit suicide are most at risk from attempts of suicide, also called suicidal tendencies. People with suicidal tendencies are 40 times more at risk from committing suicides than others. Treatment procedures to effectively deal with this tendency in people had been till date quite limited.
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