Evidence map›Paper›PMID 31675949›Full record

ArticleBMC psychiatry2019

Research on the pathophysiology, treatment, and prevention of suicide: practical and ethical issues.

Allison C Nugent, Elizabeth D Ballard, Lawrence T Park, Carlos A Zarate

Open access · goldAbstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in BMC psychiatry, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 26 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
26citing papers in PubMed
6.5field-weighted citation impact, top 3% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

26 citing papers in PubMed, 44 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Article
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  3. 'Consider a Less Risky Alternative': Navigating Ethics Approval in Suicide Research.Journal of empirical research on human research ethics : JERHRE · 2025
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

4 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.

Allison C NugentSection on the Neurobiology and Treatment of Mood Disorders, National Institute of Mental Health, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA. nugenta@nih.gov.
Elizabeth D BallardSection on the Neurobiology and Treatment of Mood Disorders, National Institute of Mental Health, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA.
Lawrence T ParkSection on the Neurobiology and Treatment of Mood Disorders, National Institute of Mental Health, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA.
Carlos A ZarateSection on the Neurobiology and Treatment of Mood Disorders, National Institute of Mental Health, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA.
National Institutes of Health · USNational Institute of Mental Health · US

Funding

Target validation of novel therapeutic agents in mood disordersZIAMH002927 · NIMH · NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF MENTAL HEALTH · PI ZARATE, CARLOS · 2010 to 2025
$37.1M
NIMH NIH HHS ZIA MH002927
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundDespite decades of research, the rate of death from suicide is rising in the United States. Suicide is a complex and multifactorial phenomenon and, to date, no validated biomarkers that predict suicidal behavior have been identified. Only one FDA-approved drug to prevent suicide exists, and it is approved only for patients with schizophrenia. Although anti-suicide psychotherapeutic techniques exist, treatment takes time, and only preliminary data exist for rapid-acting therapies. DISCUSSION: While more research into suicidal ideation and acute suicidal behavior is clearly needed, this research is fraught with both practical and ethical concerns. As a result, many investigators and bioethicists have called for restrictions on the types of research that individuals with suicidal behavior can participate in, despite the fact that the available empirical evidence suggests that this research can be done safely. This manuscript presents background information on the phenomenology of suicide, discusses the current state of treatment and prevention strategies, and reviews the practical and ethical issues surrounding suicide research in the context of available empirical data. Currently, the causes of suicide are poorly understood, in part due to the fact that very few studies have investigated the acute suicidal crisis. Although some biomarkers for predicting risk have been developed, none have been sufficiently validated. The most successful current interventions involve means restriction. However, while numerous hurdles face researchers, these are not insurmountable. The available evidence suggests that research into suicide can be conducted both safely and ethically.

Indexed as

Suicide PreventionBiomarkersFemaleHumansMaleMental DisordersPsychotherapySuicideUnited StatesBiomarkersBioethicsDepressionResearchSuicidal ideationSuicide

Identifiers

PMID31675949
PMCPMC6824024
OpenAlexW2987702168

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.