United States – Inmates who were just released from jail have nine times more risk of committing suicide within the following year compared to people who have never been imprisoned, according to that finding by the latest research.
Study Led by Ted Miller Spotlights Concern
The team headed by Ted Miller, a senior research scientist in Beltsville, Md., came to the following conclusion: “For people who have been at least one night in a prison lately, suicide prevention efforts should be directed at them, as reported by HealthDay.
Hence, for the study, investigators combined data from 10 totally separate death rates among formerly incarcerated adults.
Data Integration Reveals Disturbing Trends
Based on such statistics, however, they compromised on the suicide rate among the over 6.1 million adults who had been back to jail at least once in the prior year of 2019.
The finding revealed that those inmates had a nine-fold higher risk of suicide by one year after the release and a seven times higher risk of suicide by two years after the release.
It is estimated that 20% of suicides among prison releasees make up around 3% of the population by age.
An adult, while in a state of crisis, may often be taken into police custody. The experts say so.
Intersection of Crisis Response and Justice System
Nowadays, jails’ release data can become linked to patient’s health records, so healthcare systems can concentrate earlier outreach contacts on patients who have been recently released, which is what was highlighted by the authors, as reported by HealthDay.
“Focused suicide prevention efforts could reach a substantial number of adults who were formerly incarcerated within two years when death by suicide is likely to occur,” the authors in the news release of the American Psychiatric Association concluded.
The study was published in the journal JAMA Network Open on May 10th by researchers.