Suicide in later life

Abstract

The interesting and timely analysis from Pearson and colleagues in the November 2009 issue1 confirms the richness of the data in the National Confidential Inquiry into homicide and suicide by people with mental illness. The troubling suggestion that people considering suicide may attend their GP for a consultation but still continue to take their own life is not new. This teams' finding that many GPs (following the suicide of a patient) thought that the death had probably been unavoidable is new, and challenges those who think that the recent decline in suicide rates is …