This product addresses the global public health problem of close to 800 000 suicides every year, of which 79% occur in low- and middle-income countries. Suicide is the second leading cause of death in the age group 15-29 years. WHO guidelines already exist in the area of suicide prevention (https://www.who.int/mental_health/mhgap/evidence/suicide/en/); therefore, this product is not a guideline, but will ensure the implementation of the existing guidelines.

Over 700 000 people lose their life to suicide every year. Reducing the global suicide mortality rate by one third by 2030 is both an indicator and a target (the only one for mental health) in the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and in WHO’s Comprehensive Mental Health Action Plan 2013-2030. WHO’s 13th General Programme of Work 2019-2023 includes the same indicator with a reduction of 15% by 2023.

This book explores suicide prevention perspectives from around the world, considering both professionals’ points of view as well as first-person accounts from suicidal individuals. Scholars around the globe have puzzled over what makes a person suicidal and what is in the minds of those individuals who die by suicide. Most often the focus is not on the motives for suicide, nor on the phenomenology of this act, but on what is found from small cohorts of suicidal individuals. This book offers a tentative synthesis of a complex phenomenon, and sheds some light on models of suicide that are less frequently encountered in the literature. Written by international experts, it makes a valuable contribution to the field of suicidology that appeals to a wide readership, from mental health professionals to researchers in suicidology and students.

Assessing and Treating Suicidal Thinking and Behaviors in Children and Adolescents is a guide to working with children and young people who present with either obvious or hidden suicidal thoughts, preoccupations, or plans. Chapters explore a range of treatment approaches and focus on how to support parents, caregivers, families, and schools. Expressive therapies are highlighted, but the chapters also cover evidence-based models such as cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT), dialectical behaviour therapy (DBT), and prescriptive play therapy. Expressive therapists, school-based counselors, and other clinicians who work with at-risk children and adolescents from diverse communities and backgrounds will come away from this book with the tools they need to integrate the individual child’s capabilities, sources of distress, and internal and external resources in order to build a developmentally sensitive treatment plan.

This booklet is an update of one in a series of resources on “Preventing suicide” addressed to specific social and professional groups that are particularly relevant to the prevention of suicide: “Preventing suicide: a resource for media professionals” (original in 2000 WHO/MNH/MBD/00.2, first update in 2008, second update in 2017). The booklet represents a link in a long and diverse chain involving a wide range of people and groups, including health professionals, educators, social communicators, policy makers, managers, workforce, families, and communities. Media professionals play an important role in the prevention of suicide (please also see “Preventing suicide: a global imperative”, 2014; LIVE LIFE: an implementation guide for suicide prevention in countries, 2021; and mhGAP evidence https://www.who.int/teams/mental-health-and-substance-use/treatment-care/mental-health-gap-action-programme/evidence-centre).

Reducing the global suicide mortality rate by a third by 2030 is a target of both the UN Sustainable Development Goals and the WHO Global Mental Health Action Plan. However, an impediment to meeting this goal is the fact that suicide and suicide attempts remain illegal in at least 23 countries worldwide. A fundamental consequence of the criminalization of suicide and suicide attempts is that it deters people from seeking timely help and accessing interventions due to fear of legal repercussions and stigma. Conversely, when suicide and suicide attempts are not criminalized, better information about why they happen, how they can be prevented, and who is most at risk can be gathered. This allows governments to develop suicide prevention strategies to support people who may be experiencing struggles in their life. Decriminalization of suicide and suicide attempts represents one critical step governments can take in their efforts to prevent suicide. The WHO Policy Brief on the health aspects of decriminalization of suicide and suicide attempts cites data and research to make a case for decriminalizing suicide globally. It also includes case examples from countries that have recently decriminalized suicide and suicide attempts — Guyana, Pakistan and Singapore — providing important insights to policy-makers, legislators, parliamentarians and other decision-makers.

Available online: https://pub.norden.org/temanord2024-509/ In 2022, a total of 3,574 individuals died by suicide in the Nordic countries. This report provides a situation analysis of suicide deaths and suicide attempts in the Nordic countries for the period of 2000-2023. Almost all Nordic countries have a national plan for suicide prevention. However, long-term funding for achieving identified goals is essential to ensure that measures will be implemented in clinical and daily practice.Since 2015, only modest improvements have been observed in the suicide rate in Nordic countries.