Citation

Sueki H, Ito J. Crisis 2015; 36(4): 267-273.

Affiliation

2 NPO OVA, Tokyo, Japan.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2015, International Association for Suicide Prevention, Publisher Hogrefe Publishing)

DOI

10.1027/0227-5910/a000322

PMID

26440623

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Nurturing gatekeepers is an effective suicide prevention strategy. Internet-based methods to screen those at high risk of suicide have been developed in recent years but have not been used for online gatekeeping. AIMS: A preliminary study was conducted to examine the feasibility and effects of online gatekeeping.

METHOD: Advertisements to promote e-mail psychological consultation service use among Internet users were placed on web pages identified by searches using suicide-related keywords. We replied to all emails received between July and December 2013 and analyzed their contents.

RESULTS: A total of 139 consultation service users were analyzed. The mean age was 23.8 years (SD = 9.7), and female users accounted for 80% of the sample. Suicidal ideation was present in 74.1%, and 12.2% had a history of suicide attempts. After consultation, positive changes in mood were observed in 10.8%, 16.5% showed intentions to seek help from new supporters, and 10.1% of all 139 users actually took help-seeking actions.

CONCLUSION: Online gatekeeping to prevent suicide by placing advertisements on web search pages to promote consultation service use among Internet users with suicidal ideation may be feasible.

Language: en