Suicide Prevention in an International Context.

Suicide Prevention Across Countries and Continents: Lessons Learned

A Public Health, Whole-of-Government Approach to National Suicide Prevention Strategies

Suicide is a major public health issue. Worldwide, about 800,000 people die by suicide each year. The global suicide mortality rate is estimated to be 10.5 deaths per 100,000 people. Suicide accounts for about 1.4% of all deaths globally. Suicide rates vary greatly between countries. About 80% of all suicides occur in low- and middle-income countries. Europe has an average suicide mortality rate of about 14 per 100,000 with a wide variation between countries. Many more men than women die by suicide. All ages in the population are affected, but rates clearly rise with increasing age, while it is the second leading cause of death among people aged 15 to 24 years. Suicide attempts, i.e. non-fatal suicidal behaviour, are estimated to be about 10 to 20 times more frequent than actual suicide. Scientific research identified various genetic, psychological, socio-economic, environmental and cultural factors contributing to suicidal behaviour. Suicide is then regarded as the result of a complex dynamic interaction between these factors, often described by explanatory models of suicide, such as the stress-diathesis, gene-environment, or bio psychosocial model. The high suicide rates, and the huge impact of suicide for the individual, the relatives and society as a whole urged to develop strategies to counter these risk factors, targeting an entire population, or some vulnerable groups such as persons who have suffered trauma or abuse, or specific vulnerable individuals such as suicide attempters. More and more countries structure and organise all these initiatives in national or regional suicide prevention programs. However, there is much discussion about the effectiveness of suicide prevention initiatives (scientific research showing evidence for the effectiveness of suicide prevention interventions is difficult and rather scarce), and often there is little communication on these programs between countries. By bringing together researchers and policy makers on this domain from different countries and background, this workshop aims to contribute to the scientific insight in this topic and to the improvement of an integrated and evidence-based suicide prevention policy. Eva Dumon, Gerdien Franx, and Saska Roskar will give us an overview of the national suicide prevention programs in their countries, respectively Belgium, the Netherlands and Slovenia. They will discuss the development, implementation and preliminary evaluation of the diverse initiatives. Dr. John Cachia point to the importance of taking into account the specific context of communities in the development and implementation of suicide prevention initiatives, and he shows how relevant clinical and public mental health data can be in this regard. And finally, Ulrich Hegerl will explain how systematic research on the on-going community based 4-level intervention program ('European Alliance against Depression') can add useful insights in suicide prevention strategies. Key messages Suicide is a major public health issue in many countries, and several national suicide prevention programs are developed and implemented. We need more cross-country communication, and sound scientific research about the content and effectiveness of the developed preventive initiatives.

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Finland is a country of only a little over 5 million people, the same number as some of the larger cities in the world. However, its contribution to suicide prevention has been, and continues to be, out of proportion to its population. This brief review, written from the perspective of the other side of the world in Australia, and with the assistance of some knowledge of the history of the International Association for Suicide Prevention (IASP), as well as data retrieved from the PubMed data base of the National Library of Medicine, aims to give credit to Finland’s remarkable achievement. During the nineteenth century Finland was thought to have a relatively low suicide rate compared to other European Countries (Goldney & Schioldann, 2002). However, by the mid twentieth century this rate had risen to be one of the highest, and this led to clinical academics such as Professor Kalle Achte focusing on the reasons for the rise. He was an early contributor to suicide research, publishing no fewer than eight articles during the 1960s, and his early involvement with IASP led to the 9th IASP Congress being held in Helsinki in 1977. Professor Achte was to become President of IASP between 1985 and 1989. Others had also been involved. In 1967 the Finnish Association for Mental Health established a committee to examine suicide prevention possibilities, and the Helsinki Suicide Prevention Center was opened in 1970. Then, in 1974 and 1975, the Finnish Yrjo Jahnson Foundation sponsored seminars on suicide research and prevention, which led to significant research activities that were subsequently presented at the 1977 Helsinki IASP meeting. The proceedings of the seminars were reported by Achte and Lonnqvist (1976), and represent an excellent overview of the state of suicide prevention at that time. In 1985 Finland was the first country to establish a research-based comprehensive national program for suicide prevention (Kerkhof, 1999). The suicide rate continued to increase until 1990, but fell 20% between 1991 and 1996, and then dropped to about 9% below the initial rate. Finland promoted broad involvement and integration of public health and social services in the community, and was arguably the first country in which information guide books about suicide prevention were distributed to different groups, such as teachers and the clergy. Finland’s model has become a blueprint for many other countries. The research phase was integral to the overall planning, part of which involved a detailed psychological autopsy study of 1397 people who died by suicide, from which many publications have emerged. The breadth of the research can be gauged by the project plan outlined by Lonnqvist et al. (1995), which had three distinct areas of focus. The first was a series of studies on suicide per se, including suicide in adolescents and younger adults, in persons with schizophrenia or alcoholism, with physical illness, and in both psychiatric and in general hospitals, as well as an examination of different methods of suicide. The second area was a series of studies on attempted suicide, examining the role of mental disorders and issues such as gender differences and unemployment. The third area was the establishment of a prospective study of suicidal behavior in adolescents with mental disorders. The results of this research-based national program are well demonstrated by examining the number of publications on suicide from Finland using the PubMed data base. There was only one publication in the 1950s, then 15 in the 1960s, 26 in the 1970s, and 34 in the 1980s, before an enormous increase with 160 in the 1990s, and a further 58 in the next 4 years to the end of 2003. In considering the individual contributors to this research, at least eight authors have published more than 10 papers, with three, Drs Henriksson, Isometsa, and Lonnqvist each publishing over 50, and with Dr. Lonnqvist contributing 108. Indeed, it could be argued that Dr. Lonnqvist has been the most influential suicide researcher, both in terms of his own publications and in his sponsorship and

Media recommendations on reporting suicidal behaviour and suggestions for optimisation

Implementing Real-Time Data Suicide Surveillance Systems.

News, Announcements, and IASP

Free AccessAnnouncementsPublished Online:March 24, 2023https://doi.org/10.1027/0227-5910/a000904PDF ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload CitationsTrack Citations ShareShare onFacebookTwitterLinkedInReddit SectionsMoreAAS23: American Association of Suicidology Annual Conference is taking place April 19--22, 2023, in Portland, OR, USA. For more information go to https://suicidology.org/aas23/The National Suicide Prevention Conference held by Suicide Prevention Australia is taking place May 1–4, 2023, in Canberra, Australia. For more information go to https://www.suicidepreventionaust.org/our-events#national-conferenceThe 32nd World Congress of the International Association for Suicide Prevention (IASP) is taking place September 19–22, 2023, in Piran, Slovenia. For more information go to https://www.iasp.info/piran2023/ Abstract submissions are now open: https://www.iasp.info/piran2023/abstract-submission/The 20th European Symposium on Suicide and Suicidal Behaviour will take place in Rome, Italy, August 27–30, 2024. Further information will be provided early 2023.IASP AwardsThe International Association for Suicide Prevention (IASP) provides awards for those who have contributed in a significant way to the furthering of the aims of the association. The awards are presented at the IASP biennial conference.On behalf of the five award committees, we are pleased to announce that the nomination process is now open. Members of the International Association for Suicide Prevention (IASP) are invited to nominate suitable persons for the below mentioned awards. Self-nomination is permitted.The Stengel Research Award, instituted in 1977, is named in honor of the late Professor Erwin Stengel, one of the founders of IASP. This award is for outstanding active research with at least 10 years of scientific activity in the field, as evidenced by number and quality of publications in internationally acknowledged journals and indicators of esteem and reputation.The Ringel Service Award, instituted in 1995, honors the late Professor Erwin Ringel, the Founding President of IASP. This award is for distinguished service in the field of suicidology.The Farberow Award was introduced in 1997 in recognition of Professor Norman Farberow, a founding member and driving force behind the IASP. This award is for a person who has contributed significantly to the field of work with suicide survivors.The De Leo Fund Award honors the memory of Nicola and Vittorio, the beloved children of Professor Diego De Leo, IASP Past President. The award is offered to distinguished scholars in recognition of their outstanding research on suicidal behaviors carried out in developing countries.The Andrej Marušić Award is dedicated to young researchers who are invited to submit a research proposal related to suicidal behavior and prevention.For full details and selection criteria, please refer to the IASP website at https://www.iasp.info/awards/ or email to wendycliff@iasp.infoNominations will close May 1st, 2023.JOIN IASP TO BE AT THE FOREFRONT OF GLOBAL SUICIDE PREVENTION EFFORTSJoin as an individualJoin as an organizationBenefits include: Special Interest Groups, Membership Network, IASP Early Career Group, Congresses, Conferences, Symposiums & Workshops, the Crisis journal, and the IASP AwardsIASP is a nonprofit organization for those interested and working in suicide prevention. The membership consists of individuals (clinicians, researchers, crisis workers, volunteers and people who have lost a family member or friend to suicide) and community, national and international organizations. The membership currently extends over 80 countries and is affiliated with the World Health Organization as the key organization concerned with suicide prevention.IASP membership is open to all individuals and organisations interested in suicide prevention: from academics, clinicians, volunteers, and survivors to community, national, and international organizations.Sign up now at www.iasp.info/become-a-member-or-renewIASP Executive Committee 2023–2026PresidentProf. Rory O'Connor (UK) 2021–2024Vice President 1Prof. Thomas Niederkrotenthaler (Austria) 2021–2024Vice President 2Prof. Jo Robinson (Australia) 2023–2026Vice President 3Prof. Lai Fong Chan (Malaysia) 2023–2026General SecretaryProf. Annette Erlangsen (Denmark) 2021–2024TreasurerProf. Maurizio Pompili (Italy) 2023–2026IASP Council of National Representatives 2023–2026Co-ChairsProf. Charity Akotia (Ghana) 2021–2024 & Associate Professor Vita Postuvan (Slovenia) 2023–2026For a current listing of the IASP Council of National Representatives please refer to www.iasp.info/iasp-national-regional-representatives/FiguresReferencesRelatedDetails Volume 44Issue 2March 2023ISSN: 0227-5910eISSN: 2151-2396 InformationCrisis (2023), 44, pp. 173-174 https://doi.org/10.1027/0227-5910/a000904.© 2023Hogrefe PublishingPDF download

Awareness months are used as promotion strategies to enhance public health through increasing knowledge and behavioral change, including suicide prevention. However, given epidemiologic evidence and the historical impact of awareness months on health behaviors, the purpose of this paper is to encourage reconsideration of the current timing of suicide prevention month. In the U.S., most suicide deaths occur in May. The original National Suicide Prevention Week was established in May 1974 by the American Association of Suicidology. In the early 2000s, this week was moved to September to align with a global effort by the International Association for Suicide Prevention and the World Health Organization, establishing September 10th as World Suicide Prevention Day and September as National Suicide Prevention Month. This commentary reviews evidence around awareness months/weeks/days and provides a brief history of suicide prevention awareness wee development, inviting a deeper consideration of the timing of National Suicide Prevention Week with epidemiologic trends in suicide attempts and deaths. Specifically, if calendar-anchored campaigns successfully increase awareness and behavior change, then perhaps the placement of National Suicide Prevention Month in September is not maximizing benefit in the U.S. because epidemiologic evidence suggests suicides peak in late spring/early summer, making this a potentially better time to increase awareness campaigns. By aligning the awareness month with the peak of the phenomenon, enhanced suicide prevention awareness could reduce suicide attempts and deaths. Re-scheduling this effort would require nationwide coordinated conversations with stakeholder groups, including non-profit advocacy organizations, loss survivors, researchers, prevention programs, and care agencies.

Background and Aims: Iran is one of the few countries in the Eastern Mediterranean Region (EMR) to have developed a national suicide prevention program (NSPP). This report introduces Iran's NSPP to policy planners and researchers working in suicide prevention, and is intended to encourage other low- and middle-income countries to develop, implement, and evaluate their own NSPPs. Method: This was a case study of a NSPP in one country, integrating quantitative and qualitative data. Bibliographic searches were conducted using both international and national databases, supplemented by other documents. The study benefited from the experiential evidence provided by the senior author. Results: While the national incidence of suicide is low, there are higher rates among young adults, particularly women, in western regions. In 2010, Iran's NSPP was integrated into primary health care. A rigorous evaluation of Iran's suicide prevention program concluded that Iran has the potential to take a leadership role in suicide prevention within the EMR, although several challenges were identified. Limitation: The findings of this case study cannot be generalized to other contexts. Conclusion: Given Iran's unstable situation, the NSPP needs to be monitored, evaluated, and adjusted according to evidence and ongoing changing national and local needs.

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Suicidal behaviour is an increasingly significant public health concern on the African continent. Although there is an obvious, urgent need for comprehensive national suicide prevention programmes, only a handful of local or regionalized efforts exist and to the best of our knowledge there are no national programmes. In South Africa, a framework for a national suicide prevention programme has been proposed (Schlebusch 2005; Burrows and Schlebusch 2008), and a statement of intent to implement such plans has been issued by government representatives and South African suicidologists (Burrows 2005).In some ways, South Africa has set the lead in contemporary suicide research in Africa (Kinyanda and Kigozi 2005; Schlebusch 2005). For example, the twenty-third World Congress of the International Association for Suicide Prevention (IASP) was held for the first time on the African continent and hosted in Durban (a major harbour city on the east coast of South Africa) in 2005. South Africa has unique features compared to many other countries on the continent in that it is fairly prosperous with many well-established universities, research institutes and research infrastructures. It is one of the few countries in the African region to regularly monitor and update data on suicidal behaviour (Matzopoulos 2005; Schlebusch 2005) and researchers have developed a framework for the management (Schlebusch 2005) and prevention of suicidal behaviour (Burrows and Schlebusch 2008).

The effect of national suicide prevention programs on suicide rates in 21 OECD nations

Free AccessNews, Announcements, and IASPPublished Online:March 02, 2022https://doi.org/10.1027/0227-5910/a000857PDF ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload CitationsTrack Citations ShareShare onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditE-Mail SectionsMoreAnnouncementsThe 55th Annual Conference of the American Association of Suicidology (AAS) is taking place April 27–30, 2022, in Chicago, IL, USA. For more information go to https://suicidology.org/conference/The 10th International Association for Suicide Prevention (IASP) Asia Pacific Conference is taking place May 3–5, 2022, on the Gold Coast, QLD, Australia. For more information go to https://www.iasp.info/apac-home/The National Conference on Suicide Prevention held by the Canadian Association for Suicide Prevention (CASP) is taking place May 11–13, 2022, in Montreal, Canada. For more information go to https://suicidepre​vention.ca/events/2022-casp-annual-conference/The 19th European Symposium of Suicide and Suicidal Behaviour is taking place August 24–27, 2022, in Copenhagen, Denmark. For more information go to http://esssb19.org/The National Suicide Prevention Conference held by Suicide Prevention Australia is taking place May 1–4, 2023, in Canberra, Australia. For more information go to https://www.suicidepreventionaust.org/our-events#na​tional-conferenceInternational Association for Suicide PreventionWould you like to join IASP?IASP is a nonprofit organization for those interested and working in suicide prevention. The membership consists of individuals (clinicians, scientists, crisis workers, volunteers and persons who have lost a family member by suicide) and community, national and international organizations. At this moment the membership extends over 50 countries and is affiliated with the World Health Organization as the key organization concerned with suicide prevention.The main objectives of IASP are:to provide a common platform for all representatives of the many professions who are engaged in the field of suicide prevention and crisis intervention;to allow interchange of acquired experience in this area in various countries, especially through the exchange of literature;to promote the establishment of national organizations for suicide prevention;to facilitate the wider dissemination of the fundamentals of effective suicide prevention to professional groups and to the general public;to arrange for specialized training of selected persons in the area of suicide prevention in selected training centers;to carry out programs of research, especially those which can be pursued through international joint cooperation.The activities of the association focus on the importance of sharing information, research and knowledge in order to address the issues of suicide and its prevention. The biennial congress, the bimonthly journal Crisis, biannual newsletter and the website serves as a medium for international exchange and a directory of members involved in suicidology is made available.Candidates for IASP membership may apply directly to the Central Administration Office membership@iasp.info or join IASP online at http://www.iasp.infoMembership consists of:Regular membership for individuals regularly engaged in suicide studies, clinical management of suicidal patients, and/or suicide prevention activities, and who are interested in furthering the work of the Association.Organizational membership is for national or international voluntary or other nonprofit organizations (incorporated or unincorporated) working in the field of suicide studies, clinical management of suicidal patients and/or suicide prevention activities under the terms of their governing document.Associate membership is for individuals and organizations who are interested in working toward the goals of the Association, but who are not qualified for regular membership.Please contact the IASP Central Administration Office at membership@iasp.info; on the web at http://www.iasp.infoIASP membership fees (include a subscription to Crisis):Membership feesIASP Executive Committee 2021–2024President: Prof. Rory O'Connor (UK) 2021–2024Vice President 1: Prof. Thomas Niederkrotenthaler (Austria) 2021–2024Vice President 2: Prof. Jo Robinson (Australia) 2021–2022Vice President 3: Prof. Lai Fong Chan (Malaysia) 2021–2022General Secretary: Prof. Annette Erlangsen (Denmark) 2021–2024Treasurer: Prof. Maurizio Pompili (Italy) 2021–2022IASP Council of National Representatives 2021–2024Co-Chairs: Prof. Charity Akotia (Ghana) 2021–2024 and Dr. Silvia Pelaez (Uruguay) 2021–2022For a current listing of the IASP Council of National Representatives please refer to https://www.iasp.info/council_of_national_representatives.phpFiguresReferencesRelatedDetails Volume 43Issue 2March 2022ISSN: 0227-5910eISSN: 2151-2396 InformationCrisis (2022), 43, pp. 161-162 https://doi.org/10.1027/0227-5910/a000857.© 2022Hogrefe PublishingPDF download