SIMON – Suicide Ideation Monitoring

Experiences and thoughts in daily life can be valuable warning signals for suicidal crises. In the SIMON study, literally "Suicide Ideation Monitoring", e strive for exactly that:

We are investigating whether digital technologies can be used to record suicidal thoughts and create an individualized health record for that person.

This is the question that our interdisciplinary research team, consisting of Prof. Birgit Kleim, PhD, and Prof. Urte Scholz, PhD, who are leading the SIMON study, together with the main contact persons Dr. Stephanie Homan and Dr. Anja Ries, are asking themselves. The ETH Zurich team led by Prof. Dr. Tobias Kowatsch is behind SIMON's mobile application (www.mobilehealthcoach.ch). Furthermore, Laura Sels, PhD. and the several master students and bachelor students support us.

So far, suicide risk was inquired about in the form of questionnaires or diagnostic interviews that had to be conducted by clinicians. In the SIMON study, apps are used to record suicide risk in addition to the previous methods. These data are anonymized. Thus, it is not possible to draw conclusions about individuals.

As this study is financed by the Swiss National Science Foundation, you will not incur any costs for the treatment. As a thank you for your full participation in the study, you will receive CHF 120.

The SIMON study is purely a research and observational study that does not provide treatment. If you wish, in addition to reimbursement, you will have the opportunity to receive visual feedback on your four-week health log. In addition to financial and personal compensation, your participation will make a valuable contribution to a better understanding of suicidal ideation and to the future development of better services for individuals suffering from suicidal ideation.