Suicide

Suicide is a major cause of death worldwide. The majority of cases are related to psychiatric diseases. Among those, depression, substance use, and psychosis are the most relevant risk factors, while anxiety and various disorders (personality, eating, trauma-related, and organic mental disorders) significantly add to the statistics.

The matter at hand is relatively complex and a significant amount of underreporting is likely to be present. Nevertheless, suicides can, at least partially, be prevented by restricting access to the means of suicide. This is possible by training primary care physicians and health workers to identify at-risk individuals, assessing and managing respective crises, providing adequate follow-up care, and addressing the way suicide is reported by the media.

Suicidality represents a major societal and healthcare problem, so a high priority should be given to its detection and prevention. Moreover, psychiatric disease is legally complex, and careful attention should be given to documentation in these situations.