Understanding mental health inpatient experiences of suicide attempts
Research type
Research Study
Full title
From thought to action: understanding mental health inpatients’ experiences of suicide attempts
IRAS ID
360600
Contact name
Elystan Roberts
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust
Duration of Study in the UK
0 years, 6 months, 29 days
Research summary
Individuals who have been admitted to mental health hospital are at particularly high risk of dying by suicide, particularly in the weeks immediately following discharge from hospital. Recent evidence has indicated that the psychological treatments we offer while people are in hospital are no better at preventing suicide than providing no particular treatment at all.
Models developed to understand suicidal behaviour propose that the factors which lead people to have thoughts about ending their life are different to the factors which lead people to attempt suicide. Most previous research has studied the differences between these two distinct groups of people: those who have only thought about suicide versus those who have attempted suicide. However, we don't know much about what psychological factors lead individual people to move from thoughts to attempts.
The proposed study will involve conducting semi-structured interviews with people admitted to mental health hospital following a suicide attempt. We plan to ask people about their experience of having suicidal thoughts and attempting suicide, with a view to understanding what changed for them and how their thoughts and feelings might have shifted over time.
REC name
Wales REC 4
REC reference
25/WA/0322
Date of REC Opinion
19 Dec 2025
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion