• Mohamed A Hussein, Rohit Nallani, Phillip M Jenkins, Robert Stephen Haake, Vinu Perinjelil, James Cranford, Amber Campbell, Arriona Dryden, Sarak Kenney, Kaitlin Herdman, Amber Dombrowski, and Gul Sachwani-Daswani.
• Division of Trauma Surgery and Surgical Critical Care, Department of General Surgery, Hurley Medical Center, MI, USA.
• Injury. 2023 Oct 1; 54 (10): 110981110981.

IntroductionSuicide claims many lives globally, each year. For every person that dies by suicide, multitudes more attempt it. A national shortage of psychiatrists may prevent many individuals from receiving timely mental health care. For many individuals, the primary entry point into the healthcare system is through the emergency department. The trauma service frequently treats patients with severe self-inflicted injuries and for many this is not the first time. This represents an opportunity for intervention to disrupt the cycle and prevent future death.MethodsWe conducted a retrospective chart review of all patients with self-inflicted injuries, admitted to the trauma surgery service between 2012 and 2021. All patients above 10 years old were included.ResultsFour hundred forty-one patients were admitted due to self-injurious behavior in the period under study. The majority of patients (71.9%) had a pre-existing mental health disorder. Fifty six patients suffered fatal injuries; the majority were White (78.6%), males (80.3%), and were inflicted by gunshot (71.4%). Nearly one third of patients with self-inflicted injuries had a history of self-injurious behavior with the average number of attempts being 2.7 (SD: ±3.8).ConclusionsWe need interdisciplinary and innovative solutions for this public health crisis. Perhaps telemedicine can be used to buttress the access to adequate mental health care. More research needs to be done to better identify the barriers individuals encounter in accessing mental health care, both pre- and post-crisis. The goal is that, by identifying the gaps, we can collaboratively bridge them to prevent a preventable death.Copyright © 2023 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

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