MIRECC / CoE
Rethinking Suicide: Craig Bryan Brings Expertise to CoE, Newest Book
Rethinking Suicide: Craig Bryan Brings Expertise to CoE, Newest Book
Craig Bryan, PsyD, ABPP, has had a busy few months indeed. He’s released a new book, published numerous papers on suicidal ideation and PTSD, testified before Congress, and been appointed by the Secretary of Defense to serve on the Suicide Prevention and Response Independent Review Committee (SPRIRC). What keeps Bryan, an Investigator at the Center for Excellence in Suicide Prevention (CoE), motivated through this whirlwind is that his work is addressing a critical gap in suicide prevention research.
“[The CoE] needed someone who has run clinical trials, who understands the complexity of treatments and therapeutics and can guide the next generation of researchers,” says Bryan.
In addition to mentorship, Bryan’s own research primarily focuses on developing and testing treatments and interventions to prevent suicide. As a Veteran, he wants to take care of his own.
“Vets within our nation are a disadvantaged group,” he explains. “They have higher rates of health problems and disability, so being able after my service to continue taking care of Veterans was important to me in coming to the CoE.”
Part of serving Veterans, Bryan says, is challenging assumptions around suicide. His recent book, “Rethinking Suicide: Why Prevention Fails, and How We Can Do Better,” addresses some of those assumptions.
“For me, suicide prevention is helping to create lives that are worth living,” he says. “Unfortunately, we get so focused on death and trying to keep people from dying that we forget part of the decision to end one’s life often comes from the perception that life is not worth living.”
Despite authoring multiple books, this one, he says, was a particular challenge. It’s not academic, but rather focused on personal stories. The ideas are ones he has had for years, he says, and it was his wife, AnnaBelle, who encouraged him to publish them. But perhaps most daunting about the project, was that it goes against the grain.
“A month before [the book] came out, I was panicked, thinking ‘what have I done?’” he recalls. Since the book was released, the reception has been overwhelmingly positive. As a result, Bryan has been invited by government leaders and decisionmakers to discuss policy implications for his ideas.
“I hope that a next step in suicide prevention will be looking at systems and institutions that make life [challenging] for people and for Veterans,” Bryan says.
Now, Bryan is incorporating those ideas in his work at the CoE, where he hopes to find effective upstream suicide prevention strategies to enhance screening, assessment and prevention. A better future, he believes, is attainable via research and investing in young talent.
“That post-doc/early career window is where I have the most to offer so it tends to be the most rewarding,” Bryan says. “There are all these pathways that are in front of them and by ensuring they are prepared to follow them, I can help early career researchers take those first steps.”
Learn more about Bryan and his work →
