Artificial Intelligence to Prevent Suicides

12 views 0 05/06/2020

  1. COVID-19 pandemic has adverse effects on mental health and mental illness, and suicide risk factors are increased (such as anxiety, PTSD, depression, isolation, loss of employment and financial stressors).1
  2. Some people experiencing mental distress might not seek help because of social distanciation.1
  3. Development of artificial intelligence (AI) algorithms and machine learning could help identify individuals and populations at risk of suicide.2
  4. An AI program currently used in China analyses negative postings on social media (Weibo), identifies individuals in crisis and alerts emergency volunteers for help.3-6  
  5. Social media shows significant potential for identifying those at risk of suicide in addition to mapping suicide contagion, although further validation research in this area is needed.7


This information comes from a commentary by Gunnell D. et al (2020) published in The Lancet and from two reviews addressing the use of AI and technology for suicide prevention (Fonseka T.M. et al (2019), Christensen H. et al (2014)). Various papers studying the assessment of emotional distress through a Chinese microblog (Weibo) were also analysed.

 

Sources :

  1.  Gunnell D., Appleby L., Arensman E., Hawton K., John A., Kapur N., Khan M., O’Connor R.C., Pirkis J., the COVID-19 Suicide Prevention Research Collaboration, (April 21, 2020), Suicide risk and prevention during the COVID-19 pandemic, Lancet Psychiatry, https://doi.org/10.1016/S2215-0366(20)30171-1  
  2. Fonseka T.M., Bhat V., Kennedy S.H., (July 26, 2019). The utility of artificial intelligence in suicide risk prediction and the management of suicidal behaviors, Australian & New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry, https://doi.org/10.1177/0004867419864428
  3. The Chinese suicides prevented by AI from afar. (November 9, 2019). BBC World. Date accessed: April 10, 2020. https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-50314819
  4. Cheng Q., Li T. M.H., Kwok C-L., Zhu T., Yip P. S.F. (July 10, 2017). Assessing Suicide Risk and Emotional Distress in Chinese Social Media: A Text Mining and Machine Learning Study. Journal of Medical Internet Research. https://doi.org/10.2196/jmir.7276
  5. Cheng Q., Kwok C.L., Zhu T., Guan L., Yip P.S., (September 11, 2015). Suicide Communication on Social Media and Its Psychological Mechanisms: An Examination of Chinese Microblog Users. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph120911506
  6. Wang Z., Yu G., Tian X., Tang J., Yan X., (September 24, 2018). A Study of Users with Suicidal Ideation on Sina Weibo, Telemedicine and E-Health. https://doi.org/10.1089/tmj.2017.0189
  7. Christensen H., Batterham P.J., O’Dea B., (August 12, 2014)., E-Health Interventions for Suicide Prevention, International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph110808193

 

 

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