Alice in Suicideland: Exploring the Suicidal Ideation Mechanism through the Sense of Connectedness and Help-Seeking Behaviors

On average, one person dies by suicide every 40 seconds, recent data show. Yet, extant studies have largely focused on the risk factors for suicidal behaviors, not so much on the thought process and the interactions of factors leading up to a suicide attempt. To understand how suicide thoughts arise and persist inside one’s mind, and look for actionable solutions to reduce the risk of suicidal ideation in young adults, the most at-risk group of deaths by suicide. A multifiltering information mechanism called Mindsponge serves as the theoretical basis. Bayesian analysis with the Hamiltonian MCMC technique (Markov Chain Monte Carlo) was run on a dataset of multinational students (N = 268) in an international university in Japan. Item 9 in the PHQ-9 was used to survey suicidal ideation in students. The associations among four main variables, namely (i) suicidal ideation, (ii) help-seeking willingness (informal and formal sources), (iii) social connectedness, and (iv) being an international student, were tested in four models. Social connectedness is negatively associated with suicidal ideation (μ_(ToSC_Suicide) = -0.13 and σ_(ToSC_Suicide) = 0.02), but when the interaction with international students is added, the social connectedness’s effect on suicidal ideation becomes less impactful (μ_(ToSC*Inter_Dom_Suicide) = 0.01 and σ_(ToSC*Inter_Dom_Suicide) = 0.01). Social connectedness on help-seeking behavior among international students is also negative (μ_(ToSC*Inter_Dom_InformalHelp) = -0.01 and σ_(ToSC*Inter_Dom_InformalHelp) = 0.01). Meanwhile, informal help is negatively associated with suicide (μ_(InformalHelp_Suicide) = -0.51 and σ_(InformalHelp_Suicide) = 0.11) whereas formal help is positive (μ_(FormalHelp_Suicide) = 0.08 and σ_(FormalHelp_Suicide) = 0.10). The findings support our assumption on three fundamental conditions for preventing suicidal thoughts: (i) a high degree of belongingness, (ii) accessibility to help-related information, and (iii) healthy perceived cultural responses towards mental health. The implications are clear: to effectively tackle suicidal ideation among students, and broadly in other populations, requires a set of systematically coordinated programs

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Alice in Suicideland: Exploring the suicidal ideation mechanism through social connectedness and help-seeking behaviors

10.31234/osf.io/86jqu ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Minh-Hoang Nguyen ◽

Tri Tam Le ◽

Hong-Kong T. Nguyen ◽

Manh-Toan Ho ◽

Nguyen Thanh Thanh Huyen ◽

...

Keyword(s):

International Students ◽

Suicidal Ideation ◽

Help Seeking ◽

International Student ◽

Social Connectedness ◽

Help Seeking Behaviors ◽

Negatively Associated ◽

Related Information ◽

Seeking Behavior ◽

Cultural Responses

On average, one person dies by suicide every 40 seconds, recent data show. Yet, extant studies have largely focused on the risk factors for suicidal behaviors, not so much on the thought process and the interactions of factors leading up to a suicide attempt. To understand how suicide thoughts arise and persist inside one’s mind, and look for actionable solutions to reduce the risk of suicidal ideation in young adults, the most at-risk group of deaths by suicide. A multifiltering information mechanism called Mindsponge serves as the theoretical basis. Bayesian analysis with the Hamiltonian MCMC technique (Markov Chain Monte Carlo) was run on a dataset of multinational students (N = 268) in an international university in Japan. Item 9 in the PHQ-9 was used to survey suicidal ideation in students. The associations among four main variables, namely (i) suicidal ideation, (ii) help-seeking willingness (informal and formal sources), (iii) social connectedness, and (iv) being an international student, were tested in four models. Social connectedness is negatively associated with suicidal ideation (μ_(ToSC_Suicide) = -0.13 and σ_(ToSC_Suicide) = 0.02), but when the interaction with international students is added, the social connectedness’s effect on suicidal ideation becomes less impactful (μ_(ToSC*Inter_Dom_Suicide) = 0.01 and σ_(ToSC*Inter_Dom_Suicide) = 0.01). Social connectedness on help-seeking behavior among international students is also negative (μ_(ToSC*Inter_Dom_InformalHelp) = -0.01 and σ_(ToSC*Inter_Dom_InformalHelp) = 0.01). Meanwhile, informal help is negatively associated with suicide (μ_(InformalHelp_Suicide) = -0.51 and σ_(InformalHelp_Suicide) = 0.11) whereas formal help is positive (μ_(FormalHelp_Suicide) = 0.08 and σ_(FormalHelp_Suicide) = 0.10). The findings support our assumption on three fundamental conditions for preventing suicidal thoughts: (i) a high degree of belongingness, (ii) accessibility to help-related information, and (iii) healthy perceived cultural responses towards mental health. The implications are clear: to effectively tackle suicidal ideation among students, and broadly in other populations, requires a set of systematically coordinated programs.

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Alice in Suicideland: Exploring the suicidal ideation mechanism through social connectedness and help-seeking behaviors

10.31219/osf.io/4qgv2 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Minh-Hoang Nguyen ◽

Tri Tam Le ◽

Hong-Kong T. Nguyen ◽

Manh-Toan Ho ◽

Nguyen Thanh Thanh Huyen ◽

...

Keyword(s):

International Students ◽

Suicidal Ideation ◽

Help Seeking ◽

International Student ◽

Social Connectedness ◽

Help Seeking Behaviors ◽

Negatively Associated ◽

Related Information ◽

Seeking Behavior ◽

Cultural Responses

On average, one person dies by suicide every 40 seconds, recent data show. Yet, extant studies have largely focused on the risk factors for suicidal behaviors, not so much on the thought process and the interactions of factors leading up to a suicide attempt. To understand how suicide thoughts arise and persist inside one’s mind, and look for actionable solutions to reduce the risk of suicidal ideation in young adults, the most at-risk group of deaths by suicide. A multifiltering information mechanism called Mindsponge serves as the theoretical basis. Bayesian analysis with the Hamiltonian MCMC technique (Markov Chain Monte Carlo) was run on a dataset of multinational students (N = 268) in an international university in Japan. Item 9 in the PHQ-9 was used to survey suicidal ideation in students. The associations among four main variables, namely (i) suicidal ideation, (ii) help-seeking willingness (informal and formal sources), (iii) social connectedness, and (iv) being an international student, were tested in four models. Social connectedness is negatively associated with suicidal ideation (μ_(ToSC_Suicide) = -0.13 and σ_(ToSC_Suicide) = 0.02), but when the interaction with international students is added, the social connectedness’s effect on suicidal ideation becomes less impactful (μ_(ToSC*Inter_Dom_Suicide) = 0.01 and σ_(ToSC*Inter_Dom_Suicide) = 0.01). Social connectedness on help-seeking behavior among international students is also negative (μ_(ToSC*Inter_Dom_InformalHelp) = -0.01 and σ_(ToSC*Inter_Dom_InformalHelp) = 0.01). Meanwhile, informal help is negatively associated with suicide (μ_(InformalHelp_Suicide) = -0.51 and σ_(InformalHelp_Suicide) = 0.11) whereas formal help is positive (μ_(FormalHelp_Suicide) = 0.08 and σ_(FormalHelp_Suicide) = 0.10). The findings support our assumption on three fundamental conditions for preventing suicidal thoughts: (i) a high degree of belongingness, (ii) accessibility to help-related information, and (iii) healthy perceived cultural responses towards mental health. The implications are clear: to effectively tackle suicidal ideation among students, and broadly in other populations, requires a set of systematically coordinated programs.

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From Mindsponge Process to Discovery

10.31219/osf.io/jfnze ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Minh-Hoang Nguyen

Keyword(s):

Suicidal Ideation ◽

Help Seeking ◽

Social Connectedness ◽

High Complexity ◽

Help Seeking Behaviors ◽

Related Information

Just a few days ago, my colleagues and I completed a manuscript titled “Alice in Suicideland: Exploring the suicidal ideation mechanism through social connectedness and help-seeking behaviors”. In the manuscript, we explain how the suicidal ideation mechanism happens in the students’ minds and how suicidal ideation can be prevented by help-related information employing the Mindsponge mechanism. Though thought-provoking, the mechanism obtains high complexity and dynamics and might be subversive to the existing literature in Psychological sciences. But, how did I come up with such a discovery? In this essay, I provide a reflection on how I explored the idea using the Mindsponge process.

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Impact of Online Mental Health Screening Tools on Help-Seeking, Care Receipt, and Suicidal Ideation and Suicidal Intent: Evidence from Internet Search Behavior in a Large U.S. Cohort

10.31234/osf.io/bdpc2 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Nicholas C. Jacobson ◽

Elad Yom-Tov ◽

Damien Lekkas ◽

Michael Heinz ◽

Lili Liu ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Mental Health ◽

Suicidal Ideation ◽

Help Seeking ◽

Health Screening ◽

Mental Health Screening ◽

Screening Tools ◽

Care Seeking ◽

Suicidal Intent ◽

The Impact ◽

Psychoactive Medications

Introduction: Most people with psychiatric illnesses do not receive treatment for almost a decade after disorder onset. Online mental health screens reflect one mechanism designed to shorten this lag in help-seeking, yet there has been limited research on the effectiveness of screening tools in naturalistic settings. Material and methods: We examined a cohort of persons directed to a mental health screening tool via the Bing search engine (n=126,060). We evaluated the impact of tool content on later searches for mental health self-references, self-diagnosis, care seeking, psychoactive medications, suicidal ideation, and suicidal intent. Website characteristics were evaluated by pairs of independent raters to ascertain screen type and content. These included the presence/absence of a suggestive diagnosis, a message on interpretability, as well as referrals to digital treatments, in-person treatments, and crisis services. Results: Using machine learning models, the results suggested that screen content predicted later searches with mental health self-references (AUC =0·73), mental health self-diagnosis (AUC = 0·69), mental health care seeking (AUC = 0·61), psychoactive medications (AUC = 0·55), suicidal ideation (AUC = 0·58), and suicidal intent (AUC = 0·60). Cox-proportional hazards models suggested individuals utilizing tools with in-person care referral were significantly more likely to subsequently search for methods to actively end their life (HR = 1·727, p = 0·007). Discussion: Online screens may influence help-seeking behavior, suicidal ideation, and suicidal intent. Websites with referrals to in-person treatments could put persons at greater risk of active suicidal intent. Further evaluation using large-scale randomized controlled trials is needed.

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Cross sectional analysis of depression and stress in medical students

10.31234/osf.io/ymfpb ◽

2018 ◽

Author(s):

Tyler S. Jones ◽

Deborah Rupert

Keyword(s):

Mental Health ◽

Medical Students ◽

Help Seeking ◽

Health Issues ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

Help Seeking Behaviors ◽

Mental Health Issues ◽

Increased Risk ◽

Sectional Analysis ◽

The Impact

Medical student wellbeing is a topic of growing concern. Medical students experience high levels of stress and burnout and are at increased risk for depression and suicidal ideation compared to the general population. Even more concerning, medical students are disproportionately less likely to seek help for their mental health issues. Identifying and preventing these problems early can have lasting positive consequences over the course of a physician’s lifetime. We implemented a wellness program at our medical school in the spring of 2016 with the goals of decreasing burnout and depression, heightening awareness of mental health issues, and encouraging help-seeking behaviors. To analyze the impact of our program, we have implemented a quality assurance survey. Here we report lifestyle factors associated with positive screens for depression from that data and propose institutional initiatives that can be spearheaded by medical students for medical students to impact positive change.

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