705 - Psychological Autopsies To Prevent Suicides
Public Health On Call
The Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
4.6 • 644 Ratings
🗓️ 8 January 2024
⏱️ 17 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Known risk factors for suicide, such as gender and race, are too general to pinpoint who might be in imminent danger. Johns Hopkins psychiatrist Dr. Paul Nestadt talks with Stephanie Desmon about "psychological autopsies," or investigations of suicides to better understand who is at risk—and where there might be opportunities for interventions. Learn more: https://magazine.jhsph.edu/2023/looking-for-why
Please note that this podcast contains mentions of self-harm and suicide. If you or someone you know is struggling, there are ways to get help. Call 988 for free, confidential crisis counseling and referrals available 24/7.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Welcome to Public Health On Call, a podcast from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, |
| 0:05.9 | where we bring evidence, experience, and perspective to make sense of today's leading health challenges. |
| 0:16.3 | If you have questions or ideas for us, please send an email to Public Health Question at jh.edu. |
| 0:23.8 | That's Public Health Question at jh.edu for future podcast episodes. |
| 0:31.8 | This is Lindsay Smith Rogers. |
| 0:34.3 | Today, Stephanie Desmond talks to Dr. Paul Nestat, a Johns Hopkins physician and researcher who |
| 0:40.1 | studies suicide and its causes. They discuss why we don't have a great handle on the causes of |
| 0:45.8 | suicide and how interviewing the loved ones of someone who has died can help us better understand |
| 0:51.3 | the risks. Please note that this podcast does contain mentions of self-harm and suicide. |
| 0:56.9 | If you or someone you know is struggling, there are ways to get help. |
| 1:01.1 | Call 988 for free confidential crisis counseling and referrals available 24-7. |
| 1:08.1 | Let's listen. |
| 1:10.4 | Paul Nestat, thanks so much for joining me. |
| 1:13.1 | Thanks for having me. |
| 1:14.4 | So we don't actually really understand all the risk factors for suicide, do we? |
| 1:19.0 | No. I mean, we do have a good sense of some of the chronic risk factors. |
| 1:22.5 | We know people are at higher risk if they're male or white or if they have a history of suicide attempt in themselves or |
| 1:28.8 | their family. These are the sorts of things that are chronic risk factors, but they're not |
| 1:33.0 | great predictors. There are many, many, many people who are male or white or have suicide in the |
| 1:38.3 | family. It doesn't help us decide who's at real imminent risk at all. |
| 1:42.3 | And why is it so important to understand that? |
| 1:45.0 | And what are you doing to figure that out? |
... |
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