With the suicide rate in the United States reaching a 30-year high, family physicians need to take steps to help patients with mental illness and those at risk for suicide, writes Kyle Jones, M.D., in a perspective piece for the American Academy of Family Physicians.
Jones, who suffers from depression and anxiety, says he is alarmed by what appears to be a dramatic increase in mental illness in the U.S. and saddened by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report last month indicating an alarming 24 percent increase in suicides from 1999 to 2014.
Family physicians can take the following steps to help curb that suicide rate, he says, which include:
- Assist in diagnosing and treating mental illness in patients. It is estimated 60 percent of individuals with mental illness do not receive treatment.
- Help overcome the stigma of mental illness so those who need help will seek treatment. Doctors should educate patients and work with local health departments and community groups, he says.
- When counseling patients, take into account factors that are suspected causes of suicide including divorce, drug addiction, economic concerns and increased social isolation that stems from Internet and social media use.
- Tailor suicide prevent efforts to populations at highest risk of suicide, such as adolescents, veterans and members of the gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender community.
- Seek more education on how to diagnosis and treat mental illness.
To learn more:
- read the article