Self-Management of Depression

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), every 40 seconds a person dies by suicide somewhere in the world and over 800,000 people die due to suicide every year. When it comes to therapeutic approaches that have shown to reduce suicide attempts, there are only a handful of evidence-based treatments. One of these treatments is cognitive-behavioral therapy (Brown & Jager-Hyman, 2014). A safety plan is a key element of the cognitive-behavioral approaches that has been widely and effectively used for preventing suicide. In a nutshell, a safety plan is a document that is developed though collaboration between the person at risk of suicide and a treatment provider and consists of a prioritized written list of coping strategies and supportive resources that a suicidal person can use before or during a suicidal crisis (Stanley & Brown, 2008). A study comparing Safety Planning Intervention with usual care found a 45% reduction in suicidal behaviors and the double the odds