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Access to means of suicide matters. Most suicidal ideation is temporary and most suicide attempts are impulsive. Men are much less likely than women to attempt

Access to means of suicide matters. Most suicidal ideation is temporary and most suicide attempts are impulsive. Men are much less likely than women to attempt suicide, but they are much more likely to die, because they tend to choose more lethal means. In 1998, the UK reduced the maximum pack sizes of paracetamol (acetaminophen) tablets. We saw no reduction in the number of people who attempted suicide by paracetamol overdose, but a 43% reduction in deaths by that means. https://www.bmj.com/content/346/bmj.f403 https://www.bmj.com/content/346/bmj.f403 There is some evidence to suggest that gun control is effective in reducing deaths due to suicide. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26396147 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26396147 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29078268 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29078268 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29852823 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29852823

wiredfool 8y ago
My sister killed herself 9 and a half years ago, and I'm pretty convinced that she'd still be alive if she didn't have immediate access to what she used(+). Due to the method, we know when she obtained it, and the circumstances around that. She got it when there were suicides in her local community, and in retrospect she had probably been thinking about it at the time. She definitely had some mental health issues at the time centered around overwork. She kept it for years, and finally used it when she had a minor setback at work. (+ not a gun)
hackermailman 8y ago
Quebec's suicide prevention strategy combined evidence-based practices, and managed to halve the suicide rate from 1999 to 2010, and it's been declining ~2% every year since 2010. Everything they do should be studied by anybody interested in this topic since it works. Things like restricting guns or drugs just means they will leap off a bridge or other method, it doesn't address the root causes which Quebec managed to do.

wiredfool 8y ago

My sister killed herself 9 and a half years ago, and I'm pretty convinced that she'd still be alive if she didn't have immediate access to what she used(+). Due to the method, we know when she obtained it, and the circumstances around that. She got it when there were suicides in her local community, and in retrospect she had probably been thinking about it at the time. She definitely had some mental health issues at the time centered around overwork. She kept it for years, and finally used it when she had a minor setback at work. (+ not a gun)

hackermailman 8y ago

Quebec's suicide prevention strategy combined evidence-based practices, and managed to halve the suicide rate from 1999 to 2010, and it's been declining ~2% every year since 2010. Everything they do should be studied by anybody interested in this topic since it works. Things like restricting guns or drugs just means they will leap off a bridge or other method, it doesn't address the root causes which Quebec managed to do.