Military Researchers Working to Find New Suicide Treatments Published Oct. 11, 2013 By Marie Reine-Maroun Health.mil FALLS CHURCH, Va. -- The Uniformed Services University of Health Sciences established the Laboratory for the Treatment of Suicide-Related Ideation and Behavior in 2006 to work on developing new treatment methods for suicidal service members. The lab is led by Dr. Marjan Holloway, an associate professor of medical and clinical psychology at the university. She and her research team pay special attention to the stresses of military life such as deployment and the psychological challenges associated with combat like post-traumatic stress disorder. Funding for the lab is provided by both private and government sources. "Our lab's mission is different than many of the other suicide prevention labs across the country because we are not primarily focused on identifying risk and protective factors for suicide. Many of these factors are already well-established," Holloway explained. "Instead, our primary focus is on how we can be most helpful to service members who have attempted suicide. We are very interested in meeting the assessment and treatment needs of these individuals and generating lessons learned as well as evidence-based practices to best prevent military suicide." The lab's first endeavor was a review of suicide deaths in the United States Air Force. The goal was to come up with lessons learned that would help prevent future suicides. To date, a total of 237 death investigation records of Air Force suicide decedents have been reviewed. One of the initial findings was that feelings of hopelessness and being a burden to others were often expressed in suicide notes. Service members had also expressed feelings of isolation and of not belonging before they died. A subsequent study examined the medical records of approximately 1,500 patients who received inpatient psychiatric care at Walter Reed Army Medical Center. Researchers investigated differences between patients admitted for suicide versus those who were admitted for other reasons to design relevant talk therapy interventions for suicidal service members. One of the preliminary findings revealed the difference in the types of traumatic life events experienced by suicidal versus non-suicidal individuals admitted for psychiatric care. Many of the suicidal service members had experienced early childhood trauma, which appeared to be related to their suicidal thoughts and behaviors as adults. The lab's researchers are currently collaborating with the Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors on a study looking into what family members of service members who committed suicide believe were missed intervention opportunities. Researchers are also developing guidelines for chaplains, behavioral health providers and military leadership on how to manage suicide-related events during deployment. This project is being conducted in collaboration with the University of Pennsylvania and New York State Psychiatric Institute. One of the lab's notable efforts is its ongoing psychotherapy research on suicide prevention. Researchers interview suicidal service members who agree to participate following hospitalization to try to understand their suicidal thoughts and behavior. They also test intervention treatments on the service members. Currently, two specific treatments are being evaluated. The first one, called Post-Admission Cognitive Therapy, consists of at least six individual talk therapy sessions. The goal is to help service members recognize that suicide is not the only choice. Researchers teach them different ways of thinking, feeling and behaving in order to prevent a future suicide attempt. The second treatment, called Safety Planning Intervention, is a one-time session in which service members are assisted in writing a step-by-step safety plan to help them avert any attempts on their life should they have suicidal thoughts. The men and women who participate in the studies play a key role in the lab's work. "These are individuals who are feeling a great deal of emotional pain in their own lives, and yet they choose to give back by volunteering their time, sharing their experiences, and doing their best in terms of helping us produce more effective strategies to aid many individuals with suicidal thinking and/or behaviors," Holloway said.