Department of Special Education, Faculty of Education, University of Haifa, Haifa, Israel.
Geha Mental Health Center, Petah Tikva, Israel.
JAMA Psychiatry. 2024 Nov 1;81(11):1138-1141. doi: 10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2024.2034.
Changes in suicide rates after a nationwide trauma may be different from changes in psychiatric symptoms or general distress after such events. However, very few studies have examined short-term suicide-related reactions after such an event.
To evaluate the short-term outcome of the events in Israel on October 7, 2023, a large-scale terror attack and unfolding war, on changes in suicidality as reflected in percentages of suicide-related calls in relation to all calls to a national mental health first aid helpline, the Israeli Association for Emotional First Aid (ERAN).
DESIGN, SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS: The data included all interactions via the various ERAN helpline services between January 1, 2022, and December 31, 2023.
The October 7, 2023, terror attack on Israel.
Changes in the numbers of overall calls and suicide-related calls to the ERAN helpline using an interrupted time-series analysis.
A total of 602 323 calls were received by the ERAN helpline. The number of calls reflecting psychological distress in the 3 months before October 7, 2023, was 67 555 compared with 89 445 calls in the 3 months after. Analysis indicated that overall calls increased significantly on October 7 (β = 2089.16; 95% CI, 1918.97-2259.35). In addition, the daily trajectory of all calls changed significantly after October 7 (β = -22.77; 95% CI, -33.37 to -12.16), such that there was a decrease in the number of calls per day (β = -11.34; SE = 1.213; t = -9.35; P < .001). The number of suicide-related calls in the 3 months before October 7 was 1887, whereas 1663 suicide-related calls were registered in the 3 months after. Analysis showed that there were no changes in the daily number of suicide-related calls from before October 7 (β = -0.001; 95% CI, -0.005 to 0.03) or on October 7 (β = -0.22; 95% CI, -3.69 to 3.25). Therefore, the percentage of suicide-related calls decreased significantly on October 7 (β = -1.42; 95% CI, -1.92 to -0.92) and gradually increased in the following period (β = 0.016; 95% CI, 0.006-0.026).
The findings of this cohort study suggest that although short-term emotional distress increased after national trauma, the percentage of suicide-related calls decreased. These results support previous studies suggesting that suicidality is not one of the immediate reactions to such traumas.
全国性创伤后自杀率的变化可能与此类事件后精神症状或一般困扰的变化不同。然而，很少有研究调查此类事件后短期与自杀相关的反应。
评估 2023 年 10 月 7 日以色列发生的大规模恐怖袭击和正在进行的战争对自杀意念变化的短期影响，这些变化反映在与拨打全国心理健康急救热线以色列情感急救协会 (ERAN) 的所有电话相比，自杀相关电话的百分比上。
设计、地点和参与者：该数据包括 2022 年 1 月 1 日至 2023 年 12 月 31 日期间通过各种 ERAN 热线服务的所有互动。
2023 年 10 月 7 日以色列发生的恐怖袭击。
使用中断时间序列分析评估 ERAN 热线的总呼叫次数和与自杀相关的呼叫次数的变化。
ERAN 热线共接到 602323 个电话。在 2023 年 10 月 7 日之前的 3 个月内，反映心理困扰的电话数量为 67555 个，而在之后的 3 个月内，电话数量为 89445 个。分析表明，10 月 7 日当天的总呼叫量显著增加（β=2089.16；95%CI，1918.97-2259.35）。此外，10 月 7 日之后，所有电话的日常轨迹都发生了显著变化（β=-22.77；95%CI，-33.37 至-12.16），每天的电话数量减少（β=-11.34；SE=1.213；t=-9.35；P<.001）。在 10 月 7 日之前的 3 个月内，与自杀相关的电话数量为 1887 个，而在之后的 3 个月内，与自杀相关的电话数量为 1663 个。分析显示，10 月 7 日之前的每日自杀相关电话数量没有变化（β=-0.001；95%CI，-0.005 至 0.03）或 10 月 7 日当天（β=-0.22；95%CI，-3.69 至 3.25）。因此，10 月 7 日当天与自杀相关的电话百分比显著下降（β=-1.42；95%CI，-1.92 至-0.92），并在随后的时期逐渐增加（β=0.016；95%CI，0.006-0.026）。
这项队列研究的结果表明，尽管全国性创伤后短期情绪困扰增加，但与自杀相关的电话百分比下降。这些结果支持了先前的研究，表明自杀意念不是此类创伤的即时反应之一。
