Global Suicide

Suicide is a serious public health problem worldwide. The suicide rate, i.e. the number of suicides per 100,000 of population, is considered to be an important indicator of national mental health and general well-being of society. The prevalence of suicide is often underestimated due to cultural, political and economic circumstances. The number of suicides in the world was estimated to be 804,000 in 2012, according to the WHO global suicide report. The age-standardized global suicide mortality rate was 11.4 per 100,000, accounting for 1.4% of all deaths. The highest crude suicide rate was in South Korea (36.6). In developed countries, male suicides have traditionally outnumbered female suicides. In 2012, the highest male-to-female suicide rate ratios (over 5.0) were found in Eastern Europe and the lowest in China (under 1.0). The risk to die by suicide increases with age. Notably, however, females in the age group 15-29 years had the highest suicide rate of all age groups in India and Latin America. The WHO estimates that for each adult suicide there may have been more than 20 others attempting suicide. Suicide risk is much higher in individuals who previously made a suicide attempt and research shows that suicide attempt is the single most important predictor of death by suicide. In suicide prevention work, strategies can be directed to the health care services or at the general population. A great need for preventive strategies for young people has been identified by the WHO. Therefore, an evidence school-based preventive method called Youth Aware of Mental Health (YAM) directed towards the entire classroom was developed in the EU-funded project 'Saving and Empowering Young Lives in Europe'. (c) 2016 S. Karger AG, Basel