Effect of Suicide Prevention Centers on Suicide Rates in the United States

Abstract

THE ESTABLISHMENT of the Los Angeles Suicide Prevention Center in the 1950s provided a model for the establishment of suicide prevention centers in other communities. In 1966, the National Institute of Mental Health created a Center for Studies in Suicide Prevention, and the stimulus from this center as well as the experience and encouragement of the staff of the Los Angeles center led to the formation of more than 200 suicide prevention centers in communities across the nation. The critical question stemming from the proliferation of suicide prevention centers is: Have they prevented suicides? Bagley (1), in a study to assess the effect of suicide prevention centers on the suicide rates in England, found that cities with such centers experienced a decline in suicide rates whereas cities without prevention centers experienced a rise in suicide rates. In the United States only one report of a study similar to Bagley's has been published, to my knowledge. In this report, Weiner (2) compared cities in California -two with and two without suicide prevention centers. He reported no discernible effect of the centers on the suicide rates in these four cities. The preceding two studies are inadequate from our viewpoint. Bagley's study may have no valid-