In this week's episode Adam discusses moral injury with Georgia Gerard a social worker at Rocky Mountain MIRECC for Suicide Prevention. Moral injury is distinct but can also overlap with PTSD. It is important to tease out the differences and then help the individual back to a a place of acceptance.

Adam Hoffberg visits with Dr. Kate Comtois during a break in the Denver VA's Mental Health Summit. Kate discusses the simple idea of caring contacts as a way to prevent suicide and remain connected with our patients. Give it a try.

Dr. Nazanin Bahraini discusses how research in suicide prevention is made accessible through the art of dissemination and implementation.

This week Adam interviews Lieutenant Colonel Andrew Hoisington, Ph.D., P.E., M.SAME, USAF, an Assistant Professor, and Environmental Engineering Division Chief, Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering, U.S. Air Force Academy. He is also one of the principle investigators with the Military and Veteran Microbiome: Consortium for Research and Education. Dr. Hoisington is the author on numerous publications in the fields of the microbiota, immunoregulation, and mental health, including lead author on a publication in the journal Microbiome, and author on a recent publication in Current Environmental Health Reports.

Adam Hoffberg interviews Dr. Sean Barnes about his paper “Moving Beyond Self-Report: Implicit Associations about Death/Life Prospectively Predict Suicidal Behavior among Veterans”. The paper explores suicide risk assessment, the limitations of self-report, and why advancing our understanding of objective ways to measure suicide risk is so important. Specifically it examines the predictive validity of the death/suicide Implicit Association Test (d/sIAT) as an objective measure of future risk.

Joe Huggins interviews Dr. Lisa Betthauser about the concept of combat rush. Combat rush was first coined by Dr. Jim Grigsby from his work in the early 1990s with Viet Nam Veterans. Dr. Betthauser explores the role of risky behaviors in returning Veterans, the role of safety planning and possible positive psychological outlets.

Adam interviews Dr. Bridget Matarazzo about using measures to test Dr. Joiner's Interpersonal Theory of suicide. This episode is of particular interest for any clinician who works with Veterans. Dr. Matarazzo explores to recognize perceived burdensomeness and thwarted belongingness in the presence of acquired capability through psychometric tools. And how these tools have been validated for a Veteran population.

Adam Hoffberg talks with Dr. Marian (Emmy) Betz about how to talk with patients about firearm safety in relation to suicide risk. Dr. Betz is an emergency room physician at the University of Colorado Hospital and has worked extensively in the area of lethal means safety for suicide prevention. Her most recent article published June 2016 is titled "Lethal Means Access and Assessment Among Suicidal Emergency Department Patients." Adam and Emmy discuss the balance between protecting rights, safety and trust.

In this episode Adam interviews Perry Renshaw, MD PhD MBA, the Medical Director of Rocky Mountain MIRECC who is based in our Salt Lake City, UT office. Dr. Renshaw is the senior author on “Acute Air Pollution Exposure and Risk of Suicide Completion”, one of the American Journal of Epidemiology (AJE) and the Society for Epidemiologic Research’s 2015 Articles of the Year. Listen as they explore what role the environment plays in suicide and the clinical implications.

On this episode of Rocky Mountain Short Takes on Suicide Prevention, Adam interviews Dr. Christopher A Lowry, Associate Professor, Department of Integrative Physiology, University of Colorado, Boulder and Co-Director of the Military and Veteran Microbiome Consortium for Research and Education. This podcast looks at Dr. Lowry's latest publication and explores the relationship between the microbiome and suicide prevention.