Impact of Mental Health Treatment on Suicide Attempts

Author/Creator ORCID

Date

2020-06-08

Department

Program

Citation of Original Publication

McClellan, Chandler; Ali, Mir M.; Mutter, Ryan; Impact of Mental Health Treatment on Suicide Attempts; The Journal of Behavioral Health Services & Research, volume 48, pages4–14, 8 June, 2020; https://doi.org/10.1007/s11414-020-09714-4

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Public Domain Mark 1.0
This work was written as part of one of the author's official duties as an Employee of the United States Government and is therefore a work of the United States Government. In accordance with 17 U.S.C. 105, no copyright protection is available for such works under U.S. Law.

Subjects

Abstract

This paper analyzes the impact of mental health treatment on suicide attempts. While prior work demonstrates the effectiveness of mental health treatment at reducing suicide risk, few studies examine nationally representative populations or use broad measures of access to mental health services. A methodological problem can arise in studies of mental health treatment and suicidal behavior because a suicide attempt can result in the use of more mental health services. Using nationally representative survey data combined with national estimates of provider availability, this paper employs a methodological correction to address that potential problem of reverse causation. This paper uses measures of the density of health care providers in an area as statistical instruments for use of mental health treatment in an analysis of the impact of mental health treatment on suicide attempts. This study finds that mental health treatment significantly reduces suicide attempts.