Suicide is the leading cause of injury death in the United States and its rate has increased in recent years.1 On an average day over 115 Americans take their lives. A typical physician’s patient is more likely to die from suicide than from motor vehicle crashes, falls, unintentional overdose, or homicide.1 Physicians and other health care providers can help protect at-risk patients by speaking with them and their families about gun safety. Based on feedback from informal focus groups and interviews with veterans and gun owners, we suggest wording like, “Lots of families in my practice keep guns at home. Sometimes when a gun owner is struggling in the ways you’ve described and has thoughts of suicide, they’ll temporarily store their guns such that they can’t get to them in a moment of desperation. For example, some people will ask their friends to hold onto their guns, others will store their guns locked up and keep the key in a safe deposit box at the bank until they’ve recovered. Are these strategies you might consider?” The focus is not on questioning a patient on whether they have guns; rather it is on providing useful information in the event they do. All authors report no financial conflicts of interest. This work was partially supported by grants from the Joyce and Bohnett Foundations. The funders had no role in the preparation, review, or approval of the manuscript or the decision to submit it for publication.
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", language="en", issn="0002-9343", doi="10.1016/j.amjmed.2016.05.034", url="http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.amjmed.2016.05.034" }