Targeting Psychological Pain After a Suicide Attempt: Scoping Review and Intervention Protocol.

Area of Science:

• Psychology
• Psychiatry
• Clinical Psychology

Background:

• Psychological pain (psychache) is linked to suicidal behavior.
• Empirical research on interventions for psychological pain in suicide attempt survivors is limited.
• Existing interventions often indirectly address components of psychological pain.

Purpose of the Study:

• To map psychological and pharmacological interventions targeting psychological pain.
• To identify core components of these interventions.
• To delineate research gaps and propose a therapeutic protocol.

Main Methods:

• Scoping review of literature from PubMed, PsycInfo, and ClinicalTrials.gov.
• Search terms included suicide, psychache, psychological pain, intervention, treatment, therapy, pharmacological treatment, and psychotherapy.
• Included randomized controlled trials, non-randomized controlled trials, and literature reviews.

Main Results:

• Few interventions explicitly target psychological pain.
• Suicide-specific therapies indirectly address elements like affect, meaning, and social connection.
• Narrative-based, emotion regulation, and acceptance-based therapies show promise; pharmacological options require more evidence.

Conclusions:

• Integrating psychological pain as a therapeutic focus can improve interventions for suicide attempt survivors.
• Therapeutic strategies may include narrative, tolerance-building, and relational approaches.
• Future research should measure psychological pain and its mediating role in suicidal outcomes.