Project Summary

Robert A. Gould, Ph.D. (Young Investigator 2000) of Massachusetts General Hospital, is working to adapt a therapeutic intervention for suicide in patients with depression so that it can be used in patients with schizophrenia, and testing it in a small controlled clinical trial.  The intervention is called cognitive-behavioral treatment (CBT), which has previously been shown to decrease the risk of suicide that accompanies depression.  Suicide is the single largest cause of premature death among individuals with schizophrenia.  Patients with suicidality and schizophrenia will be randomly assigned to receive either the CBT intervention or supportive group treatment.  It is hypothesized that patients receiving CBT will show significantly larger decreases in suicidality.  This project may lead to a larger study, and potentially a new modality for diminishing the risk of suicide in schizophrenia.

Program Area: SCHIZOPHRENIA/PSYCHOTIC DISORDERS\Schizophrenia

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