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Previous research has shown that facial emotion recognition deficits in depressed patients contributes to suicidality, and that following a suicide attempt, depressed patients have altered brain patterns. In this study, we examined whether deficits in facial emotion recognition contribute to suicidality in depressed patients, and whether this differed depending on whether they had a history of a prior suicide attempt or not.
The Activity, Cognition and Emotion (ACE) Model
The ACE model was developed as a novel approach to the conceptualisation of mood disorders such as bipolar disorder and depression. Rather than conceptualising these disorders along a single dimension of mood, the ACE model considers mood disorders as a combination of symptoms across three domains: Activity, Cognition, and Emotion; that vary over time. This multidimensional and longitudinal perspective is consistent with the prevalence of complex clinical presentations, such as mixed states, and allows for more detailed formulation and management of mood disorders.
Mixed States: Modelling and Management
In this paper, we proffer a reconceptualisation of mixed states that provides a framework for informing clinical practice and research. It is based on the ACE model, which deconstructs mood disorders into three domains of symptoms: activity, cognition, and emotion. Symptoms within each domain vary independently over time and in different directions (towards either excitation or inhibition). By deconstructing mood disorders into component domains, mixed states can be explained as the product of different domains varying ‘out of sync’.
Model of resilience
This article provides a comprehensive review of the current literature regarding the development of resilience and presents a new model of resilience in the context of adolescence. This model posits that the development of resilience is driven by adversity and identifies potential targets for future research to develop interventions aimed at fostering resilience and the prevention of mental illness.
Model of suicide in bipolar disorder
The prevalence of suicide is estimated to be 20–30 times greater in patients with bipolar disorders than in the general population. The burden of suicide and its high prevalence in bipolar disorders make it imperative that our current understanding be improved to facilitate prediction of suicide and its prevention. This review provides a new perspective on the process of suicide in bipolar disorder, in the form of a novel integrated model that is derived from extant knowledge and recent evidence.
Suicide in school-age students
Suicide remains the leading cause of death in youth aged 15–24 years, and for every young person that takes their own life, there are up to 200 suicide attempts. The response of a school following a suicide is important and should be carefully considered to avoid distress and trauma in students and staff and to prevent further suicides. In this brief piece, we outline the latest evidence regarding responses to suicide within schools and provide a summary of resources available to assist all those impacted by suicides in school-age students.