Craig Bryan: Reducing Veteran Suicides
Craig Bryan, along with other colleagues published a study entitled Effects of crisis response planning vs. contracts for safety on suicide risk in U.S.
Army soldiers: A randomized clinical trial in the Journal of Affective Disorder. The study found that crisis response planning
can significantly reduce suicide attempts among veterans and Post-Traumatic Stress
disorder patients.
Crisis response planning works by "identifying one's personal warning signs, using coping strategies, activating social support and accessing professional services". This was compared with a contract for safety which requires a signature by the individual agreeing they "will not harm themselves in any way, attempt suicide, or die by suicide".
According to Craig the contract for safety is less effective in preventing suicide, and the crisis response planning is more individualized so it is more useful because it can be personally tailored to each individual person.