It's Not Expensive To Prevent Repeated Suicide Attempts

Main Category: Psychology / Psychiatry
Also Included In: Mental Health
Article Date: 03 Sep 2008 - 2:00 PDT

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The vast majority (85%) of deaths due to suicide occur in low and middle-income countries. While wealthy, industrialized countries provide sophisticated psychotherapeutic treatment poorer countries have little to nothing to offer those who have survived suicide attempts.

New findings published recently show, however, that poor countries can considerably improve prevention of repeated attempts at suicide. Providing an information session and supportive ongoing contact to people who attempted suicide, such as telephone calls, can significantly reduce these deaths, according to the study published in the Bulletin of the World Health Organization, a leading public health journal.

"People who make attempts at suicide often end up in emergency rooms. But in low to middle-income countries, if there are no complications, patients are discharged after being treated for their injuries with no referral to mental health services," says author Fleischmann.

"However, by providing the patient with information and following up with telephone calls further attempts can be prevented and lives can be saved," Fleischmann says.

The study was conducted in Brazil, China India, Islamic Republic of Iran and Sri Lanka from January 2002 to October 2005. Read the study here.

Key articles from this month's issue can be found at http://www.who.int/bulletin/en/

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World Health Organization