Dialectical behaviour therapy helps cure suicidal tendencies: Punjab varsity study | Chandigarh News
A team of psychology department of Punjabi University, Patiala, carried out research on the effectiveness of dialectical behaviour therapy known as DBT therapy in dealing with suicidal ideation among young adults of the state.
The research was conducted by researcher Amandeep Singh under the guidance of Dr Harprit Kaur.
Dr Harprit Kaur, research guide, said that during this research, DBT was given to 100 youths from 18 districts of Punjab, in whom there were signs of thoughts of suicide or self-harm. She said that during the first phase of the research, various psychological predictors of this mental condition were studied. Thus, after testing through various standards and criteria, people who were caught in the grip of such thoughts were identified/marked and selected for this therapy.
Data on the improvement in their mental state after the therapy was collected and compared with the data of 50 other youths who had not yet been given this therapy. The results that emerged from the comparative analysis of the data of these two categories make it clear that the use of DB therapy can certainly be effective in such cases. The specific module for our specific population was tested for enhanced mental health.
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Researcher Amandeep Singh said that the therapy was provided to 100 selected people across 12 sessions. The 50 people who were not given therapy on the waiting list were given the same therapy later. It was also clear from the results obtained after this that their mental condition had greatly improved as they had overcome the thoughts of impending suicide or self-harm. Also, follow-up was done with few participants to see whether DBT was able to bring change or not. He said that results showed that improvement persisted on monitoring after six months. Even for six months, their mental condition remained in a better condition, showing efficacy of DB therapy for treatment of suicidal ideation.
Vice Chancellor Prof Arvind congratulated the research supervisor, researcher and the department on this research. He said that at present, when the life of every human being has become complicated and mental health is being adversely affected, there are many individuals across society and classes who have to face challenging thoughts taking them towards poor self-worth, and self-harm.
The research has received two international-level awards and has also received special praise at the International Suicidal Ideation Association Conference held in Northern Ireland.