Suicide

Every year, 703 000 people take their own lives and there are many more who attempt suicide. Actually, every suicide is a tragedy that affects families, communities and entire countries and has long-lasting effects on the people left behind. Suicide does not just occur in high-income countries but is a global phenomenon in all regions of the world. Over 77% of global suicides, for example, occurred in low and middle-income countries in 2019. However, they may be preventable with timely, evidence-based and often low-cost interventions. For national responses to be effective, a comprehensive multisectoral suicide prevention strategy is needed.

While the link between suicide and mental disorders (in particular, depression, alcohol use disorders and a previous suicide attempt) is well established in high-income countries, many suicides happen impulsively in moments of crisis with a breakdown in the ability to deal with life stresses, such as financial problems, relationship break-ups or chronic pain and illnesses.

Suicide prevention efforts require familiarity with these aspects, as well as coordination and collaboration among multiple sectors of society, including the health sector and other sectors such as education, labour, agriculture, business, justice, law, defence, politics, and the media. Thus, these efforts must be comprehensive and integrated as no single approach alone can make an impact on an issue as complex as suicide.

Suicide is one of the priority conditions in the WHO Mental Health Gap Action Programme (mhGAP) launched in 2008. This programme provides evidence-based technical guidance to scale up service provision and care in countries for mental, neurological and substance use disorders. Besides, the suicide mortality rate is an indicator of target 3.4 of the Sustainable Development Goals. Ultimately, its aim is to reduce by one third premature mortality from noncommunicable diseases through prevention and treatment, by 2030, promoting mental health and well-being.

Adapted from: https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/suicide Accessed 5 February 2022.