Michael Anestis

Michael David Anestis (born November 18, 1979) is an American clinical psychologist and the Nina Bell Suggs professor of psychology at the University of Southern Mississippi, where he is the director of the Suicide and Emotion Dysregulation Lab.

Anestis received his B.A. from Yale University in 2002 and his M.A. and Ph.D. from Florida State University in 2007 and 2011, respectively. His Ph.D. thesis was entitled The Role of Urgency in Maladaptive Coping Behaviors.

Anestis' research pertains to multiple topics in the field of clinical psychology, including suicide and emotional dysregulation in people with eating disorders, among other psychiatric disorders. He has also researched the relationship between gun control laws and suicide rates. For example, in a 2015 study, he found that laws prohibiting open carrying of guns in Oklahoma and California reduced suicide rates in the year after each was passed. He has also co-authored research showing that military personnel who have undergone basic training have more suicide capability than those who have not, in line with his belief that impulsivity and capability are both important to the risk of completed suicide.