family psychoeducation reduces the risk of suicide

Obviously. Caring for loved ones of patients has a beneficial effect. A study has just shown that family interventions can significantly reduce the suicide risk of patients with schizophrenia. This mental illness, whose symptoms vary widely (delusions and hallucinations are the most striking, but social isolation and cognitive difficulties are the most debilitating), affects about 1% of the population. “Adapted care that combines pharmacological and psychosocial treatment methods can achieve durable remission in a third of patients”emphasizes Inserm.

This new study published in Frontiers of Psychiatry In April, 179 groups of family caregivers in France were covered, i.e. 1946 people at the beginning of the program, a thousand people at the end due to those lost to follow-up. Question “Has your loved one made one or more suicide attempts in the past twelve months? » was administered to caregivers immediately before the start of the first module and one year later. Suicide attempts decreased from 7% to 3% in families of people with schizophrenia who participated in the Profamille psychoeducation program.

This cognitive-behavioural approach, created in the late 1980s in Quebec, includes fourteen four-hour sessions every week or twice a month, as well as a so-called “consolidation” module of four sessions over two years. The first fourteen-session module allows caregivers to better understand the disease, treatments, improve their relationship with and support their ill loved one, and better manage emotions. The second module is aimed at deepening learning.

“This reduction in suicide risk was also observed in those who received little or no treatment.”– emphasizes psychiatrist Jan Hode, president of the French-speaking association for the psychoeducation of families Profamille, who coordinated the study.

Prevent relapses

How to explain these results? “The level of emotion expressed by families is among the factors that contribute to increased suicide risk.”, he continues. In other words, “The more depressed and tired they are, the less able they are to help the patient and the less they learn from the program.”.

“We believe that with recent program improvements, we can ultimately eliminate the increased risk of suicide in schizophrenia.”, says Yann Hode. A serious problem at both the human health and public health levels. The disease causes a lot of suffering. About half of the patients attempted suicide at least once in their lives. So, “Failure to provide family psychoeducation for schizophrenia and related disorders may mean a loss of opportunity for patients.”completes the study.

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