Research finding · February 2024
Pharmacological and somatic treatments work for adults at risk for suicide
When working with a person at risk for suicide, clinicians have a wide variety of treatments at their disposal. Their selection of treatment is typically dependent upon the clinical context of the person at risk — their diagnosis and known risk factors — and the research-based evidence of each treatment’s effectiveness in clinical practice. In suicide prevention, two types of treatments available to clinicians that are often used are psychopharmacological interventions (medications for mental health conditions) and somatic (relating to the body) interventions, such as electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) and transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS).
To assess the efficacy of psychopharmacological and somatic interventions on suicide risk, Dr. Samuel Wilkinson conducted a meta-analysis and systematic review of the previous research on these two types of treatments (excluding antidepressants). After searching and selecting from nearly 3,000 publications, Dr. Wilkinson found that lithium (for bipolar disorder) and clozapine (for psychotic disorders) were associated with a reduction in the odds of suicide. Regarding somatic treatments, ECT was not found to be significantly associated with a reduction in the odds of suicide. Other somatic treatments, such as vagus nerve stimulation and TMS among others, did not have enough studies to analyze an association — signaling a need for more research on existing and novel interventions for suicide prevention.
Citation: Wilkinson, S. T., Trujillo Diaz, D., Rupp, Z. W., Kidambi, A., Ramirez, K. L., Flores, J. M., Avila-Quintero, V. J., Rhee, T. G., Olfson, M., & Bloch, M. H. (2022). Pharmacological and somatic treatment effects on suicide in adults: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Depression and Anxiety, 39(2), 100-112, http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/da.23222
This finding comes from an AFSP-funded study — see the grant below ↓
