Cognitive Behavioral Suicide Prevention for Male Prisoners: Case Examples

Suicide is a serious public health problem but a problem that is preventable. This complex and challenging problem is particularly prevalent among prisoners, who are associated with a five-fold increase in risk compared to the general community. Being in prison can lead people to experience fear, distrust, lack of control, isolation, and shame, which is often experienced as overwhelming and intolerable, with some choosing suicide as a way to escape. Few effective psychological interventions exist to prevent suicide, although cognitive behavior therapies appear to offer some promise. Offering cognitive behavior suicide prevention (CBSP) therapy to high-risk prisoners may help to reduce the likelihood of self-inflicted deaths. In this paper we present three cases drawn from a randomized controlled trial designed to investigate the feasibility of CBSP for male prisoners. Implications of the current findings for future research and clinical practice are considered. •Cognitive Behavioral Suicide Prevention (CBSP) can be delivered acceptably to male prisoners at risk of suicide.•Reduction in measures of suicide potential, hopelessness and depressive thinking were achieved by cases receiving CBSP.•Meaningful and supportive engagement in a suicide prevention psychotherapy can be achieved with a socially excluded and hard-to-reach group.