Suicide Prevention

Navneet Kapur is Professor of Psychiatry and Population Health at the University of Manchester, UK and an Honorary Consultant Psychiatrist at Greater Manchester Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust. He has spent the last 20 years researching suicidal behaviour and is an internationally leading authority on its causes, treatment and prevention. He has over 300 scientific publications and has led committees for the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) including those developing guidelines for how all clinical staff should treat people with self-harm. He sits on the main advisory group on suicide for the Department of Health in England.Robert (Bob) D. Goldney is Emeritus Professor, having retired as Head of the Discipline of Psychiatry at the University of Adelaide. His main research focussed on suicidal behaviour and he has over 400 publications. He was a founding member of both Suicide Prevention Australia and the advisory committee which established Australia's first suicide prevention strategy. He received a number of awards for his work, including the Stengel research award of the International Association for Suicide Prevention, the Louis Dublin Award for lifetime achievements in suicide prevention from the American Association of Suicidology, and a similar Lifetime Research Award of Suicide Prevention Australia. He is a past President of both the International Association of Suicide Prevention and the International Academy for Suicide Research.

"Suicide Prevention" is a remarkable book which covers an extraordinary amount of territory in a way that is precise and practical but also with humility and attention to the limitations of existing knowledge. Perhaps because of that it is also a pleasant and easy read. I'll be keeping it within arm's reach and suggest that you do the same.

• 1: A brief history of suicidal behaviour 2: Definitions 3: Epidemiology 4: What causes suicidal behaviour? 5: Psychiatric disorders and biological factors 6: Psychosocial and societal influences on suicidal behaviour 7: Initial assessment and management 8: Risk assessment for suicide 9: Psychological and other non-pharmacological approaches 10: Pharmacological approaches 11: The role of health services and systems 12: Preventing suicide through population based approaches 13: Bereavement after suicide 14: Frequently asked questions 15: Conclusion 16: Clinical examples 17: Useful links