Managing Suicidal Thoughts Disclosure

Isabelle Yujuico
16 December 2020

Isabelle Yujuico, PhD candidate at the Centre for Mental Health Research, has been honoured with the Grace Groom Memorial Scholarship awarded by Mental Health Australia. Her research focuses on disclosures of suicidal thoughts – a crucial step in seeking help and managing suicide risk.

“Many people experiencing suicidal thoughts do not reveal them due to stigma, unwanted treatment, or not wanting to be a burden to others,” says Isabelle.

Her project aims to explore when and how disclosure of suicidal ideation may be beneficial or harmful. This will be achieved through the development of a Responses to Disclosures of Suicidality Scale and a community survey.

“To my knowledge, the scale would be the first psychometrically validated measure of its kind for community application,” says Isabelle.

This project will help inform interventions and strategies for suicide prevention, consumer help-seeking, targeted community awareness campaigns, and teaching carers to respond to disclosures in helpful ways.

**The Grace Groom Memorial Scholarship is a donation by Mental Health Australia in memory of former CEO, the late Grace Groom. In 2020, Mental Health Australia awarded three Grace Groom Memorial Scholarships of $5,000 each to Isabelle Yujuico, Hannah Sheppard and Rachelle Dawson from the Australian National University.