A Deadly Marriage Between Increased Suicide Risk and Domestic Violence
Studies over the years reveal a deadly marriage between increased suicide risk and domestic violence. Hence, Tarzana Treatment Centers receives a 2020 COVID-19 Emergency Response for Suicide Prevention. Our top researchers administer the Saving Lives Project. Funds for the Saving Lives Project come from SAMHSA (Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration). They know a key element to understanding suicide prevention is the link to domestic violence. Given the intensification of household tension during pandemic quarantine periods, such a link is a priority.
During quarantine, couples are together beyond the normative. These extended sequences of time occur without an individual’s ability to employ normative coping strategies. Thus, a rise in domestic violence is not a shocking outcome.
What proves to be truly frightening is how such a rise leads to increased suicide risk. However, looking at past studies, there is a link between increased suicide risk and domestic violence.
Studies Link Suicide Risk and Domestic Violence
In the 2016 Journal of Interpersonal Violence, researchers publish “A Preliminary Test of the Interpersonal-Psychological Theory of Suicide in Women Seeking Shelter from Intimate Partner Violence.” The researchers find a direct correlation between suicide risk and domestic violence. Detailing reasons behind this risk, they write, “Women seeking shelter from intimate partner violence (IPV) are at greater risk of suicide ideation and attempts compared with women in the general population…The interpersonal-psychological theory of suicide (IPTS) proposes that suicide ideation results from hopelessness about thwarted belongingness and perceived burdensomeness.”
Therefore, domestic violence engenders feelings of hopelessness and despair. No longer feeling like they belong, abuse partners assume they are a burden. Like so many victims, they tragically blame themselves. Hence, such blame leads to suicidal ideation.
Moreover, this study examines acquired capability for suicide (ACS). Beyond suicidal ideation, acquired capability for suicide transfers theory into practice. Given the nature of domestic violence, exposure to such an extremity increases a person’s capability of killing themselves. Thus, increased suicide risk and domestic violence connect on a technical level.
Suicide Risk and Domestic Violence Correlation
When you begin to delve into the percentages of suicides that involve domestic violence, the statistics do not lie. In the Journal of Injury & Violence from 2019, a research team reveals high correlations between suicide risk and domestic violence. In a study of data from the Kentucky Violent Death Reporting System from 2005-2015, they find:
“Intimate partner problems were identified in 1,327 (26%) of all suicide cases where circumstances were known and intimate partner violence in 575 (43%) cases identified as having intimate partner problems. There was an argument or fight in 30% of cases where intimate partner problems were identified, and most were immediately followed by the suicide... there is a great deal of underlying and outright violence in intimate relationships, which is exacerbating the risk of suicide.”
With over a quarter of all suicide cases involving domestic violence, healthcare professionals cannot ignore this factor. Intimate partner problems leading to intimate partner violence are more common than most people realize. When these primal relationships are threatened or turn toxic, it is not surprising that suicide risk increases.
Thus, given the dangers, raising awareness about suicide risk is a priority.
Iranian Study and PoorSuicide Risk Assessment
Indeed, a 2019 Iranian studywas entitled “Domestic violence and suicide attempts among married women: A case–control study.”Published in The Journal of Clinical Nursing,this study reveals a need for better risk assessment tools. Examining over 600 women admitted as patients in a clinical setting in Northern Iran, the study finds a high correlation between increased suicide risk and domestic violence.
Therefore, researchers conclude that “Recognizing the risk, assessment and referral of victims of domestic violence is an integral part of healthcare systems.”
Thus, when domestic violence victims enter a facility, assessment is a priority. Indeed, suicide prevention is a priority. Such steps include an immediate risk assessment. If suicidal factors like ideation turn up, a referral is made by healthcare workers. Indeed,trained experts in suicide prevention are a necessity.
Tarzana Treatment Centers Implements Lessons
Many of the points brought up in these previous studies are now being addressed in the current study at Tarzana Treatment Centers. Dr. Salma Wahidi, Program Director and Clinical Supervisor of the Saving Lives Project, details the process of TTC’s implementation.
Dr. Wahidi explains how “we are assessing and screening all the patients that come in through Tarzana Treatment Centers, including inpatient, residential and outpatient programs. We identify patients that are at risk for suicide. Once we identify these patients, we follow-up with a more thorough risk assessment and safety planning. We plan to link patients to outside services post-COVID when they are more widely available. Right now, we are directly providing mental health services and ongoing case management.”