
Alexandra Pitman
Addressing suicide risk after suicide loss: how near are we to understanding mechanisms?
In this talk I will summarise the evidence describing risk of suicide in specific kinship groups bereaved by suicide (parent, partners, offspring, siblings) and set out what we know from the quantitative and qualitative literature about potential mechanisms. I will apply these findings to suggest the implications for targeted interventions, and review how much progress is being made towards identifying interventions that can reduce the risk of suicide in people bereaved by suicide.
Associate Professor, Alexandra Pitman, General Adult Psychiatry, Division of Psychiatry, University College London, United Kingdom
Bio**
Dr Alexandra Pitman is an Associate Professor in General Adult Psychiatry in the UCL Division of Psychiatry and an Honorary Consultant Psychiatrist at Camden & Islington NHS Foundation Trust. Her clinical and research interests relate to the care of people who feel suicidal, and she uses a range of research methods (quantitative epidemiology, qualitative interviews, experimental studies) to understand risk factors for suicide attempt, both in clinical settings and using public health approaches. Current studies include investigating the influence of loneliness and social isolation on mental illness and suicidality; social, cognitive and built environment risk factors for self-harm in vulnerable groups (people bereaved by suicide; people with cancer; LGBT youth; migrants; specific occupational groups; people who identify as lonely; adolescents); cognitive availability of suicide; limiting physical access to the means of suicide; and the development of interventions to prevent suicide attempt. She co-leads the UKRI-funded Loneliness & Social Isolation in Mental Health research network with Professor Sonia Johnson, serves on the Editorial Board of the British Journal of Psychiatry, is a Co-Director of the UCL Wellcome Trust PhD programme in mental health science, and is a Patron of the Support After Suicide Partnership. Recent research funding includes grants from the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (to investigate mediators of suicide risk after suicide bereavement), the UKRI (to co-lead the Loneliness & Social Isolation in Mental Health research network) and the UCL Institute of Mental Health (to investigate peer influences on self-harm).