Lindsay Sheehan receives an American Psychological Foundation research grant
Lindsay Sheehan, Ph.D., senior research associate in the Department of Psychology, recently received a grant from the American Psychological Foundation to study stigma experienced by people who have attempted suicide. The research project, “Developing a strategic disclosure for suicide attempt survivor,” will create and pilot a program to help survivors of suicide attempts make decisions about sharing their experience with their social networks, including families, friends, and health providers.
The Centers for Disease Control estimates that 1.3 million Americans attempt suicide each year. Negative beliefs, attitudes, and behaviors towards suicide attempt survivors are very common and as a result of this public stigma, many people hide their suicidal behavior and feel shame regarding their suicide attempt. Preventing suicide depends on people disclosing their suicidal thoughts or past attempts, and publicly disclosing suicidal behaviors may also help to change public attitudes towards survivors of suicide attempts.
This project will create a peer-led disclosure program and guide to help suicide attempt survivors to share their experience. Peer-led programs are beneficial because peers have the ability to form unique relationships with their clients based on empathy from having been in a similar position. Peers can also serve as role models for self-managing the challenge of illness, including dealing with stigma and difficult social circumstances.
The program will be adapted from the Honest, Open and Proud (HOP) program created by Patrick Corrigan, Distinguished Professor of Psychology, and his research team, of which Sheehan is a member. The HOP program is a peer-led program used to help people with mental illness make decisions regarding the disclosure of their condition. The curriculum includes three parts—evaluating pros and cons of disclosing in specific settings, identifying people who may be more receptive to the news, and crafting a disclosure story.
Using a community-based participatory research (CBPR) approach, a team comprised of researchers, people who have attempted suicide or have family members who have attempted suicide, and people who provide suicide prevention services, will create, develop, and test the curriculum for the new program with the goal of seeing positive changes in psychiatric symptoms, relationships, quality of life, and care-seeking in suicide attempt survivors.
