Suicide prevention in the context of "Health research"

Public health is "the science and art of preventing disease, prolonging life and promoting health through the organized efforts and informed choices of society, organizations, public and private, communities and individuals". Analyzing the determinants of health of a population and the threats it faces is the basis for public health. The public can be as small as a handful of people or as large as a village or an entire city; in the case of a pandemic it may encompass several continents. The concept of health takes into account physical, psychological, and social well-being, among other factors.

Public health is an interdisciplinary field. For example, epidemiology, biostatistics, social sciences and management of health services are all relevant. Other important sub-fields include environmental health, community health, behavioral health, health economics, public policy, mental health, health education, health politics, occupational safety, disability, oral health, gender issues in health, and sexual and reproductive health. Public health, together with primary care, secondary care, and tertiary care, is part of a country's overall healthcare system. Public health is implemented through the surveillance of cases and health indicators, and through the promotion of healthy behaviors. Common public health initiatives include promotion of hand-washing and breastfeeding, delivery of vaccinations, promoting ventilation and improved air quality both indoors and outdoors, suicide prevention, smoking cessation, obesity education, increasing healthcare accessibility and distribution of condoms to control the spread of sexually transmitted diseases.

Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Risk factors for suicide include mental disorders, neurodevelopmental disorders, physical disorders, and substance abuse. Some suicides are impulsive acts driven by stress (such as from financial or academic difficulties), relationship problems (such as breakups or divorces), or harassment and bullying. Those who have previously attempted suicide are at a higher risk for future attempts. Effective suicide prevention efforts include limiting access to methods of suicide such as firearms, drugs, and poisons; treating mental disorders and substance abuse; careful media reporting about suicide; improving economic conditions; and dialectical behaviour therapy (DBT). Although crisis hotlines, like 988 in North America and 13 11 14 in Australia, are common resources, their effectiveness has not been well studied.

Suicide is the 10th-leading cause of death worldwide, accounting for about 1.5% of deaths. In a given year, this is roughly 12 per 100,000 people. Though suicides resulted in 828,000 deaths globally in 2015, up from 712,000 deaths in 1990, the age-standardized death rate decreased by 23.3%. By gender, suicide rates are generally higher among men than women, ranging from 1.5 times higher in the developing world to 3.5 times higher in the developed world; in the Western world, non-fatal suicide attempts are more common among young people and women. Suicide is generally most common among those over the age of 70; however, in certain countries, those aged between 15 and 30 are at the highest risk. Europe had the highest rates of suicide by region in 2015.

Awareness ribbons are symbols meant to show support or raise consciousness for a cause. Different colors and patterns are associated with different issues. Awareness ribbons can be worn on clothing like pins, they can be appear on bumper stickers in vehicles, or they can be on arm wristbands, among many other ways. The ribbon is a symbol of awareness and support.

Of the uses of ribbons to draw awareness to health issues, perhaps the best-known is the pink ribbon for support of those with breast cancer. Other health and social concerns which have adopted colored ribbons include Alzheimer's disease and pancreatic cancer (purple), HIV/AIDS (red), mental health and mental illness (green), suicide prevention and for brain disorder or disability (silver).

Suicidology is the scientific study of suicidal behaviour, the causes of suicidality and suicide prevention. Every year, about one million people die by suicide, which is a mortality rate of sixteen per 100,000 or one death every forty seconds. Suicidologists believe that suicide is largely preventable with the right actions, knowledge about suicide, and a change in society's view of suicide to make it more acceptable to talk about suicide. Suicidology draws from many fields of social science, primarily psychology and sociology but also medicine, philosophy and public health.

The Suicide and Crisis Lifeline in the United States, or Suicide Crisis Helpline in Canada, and formerly known as the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, is a suicide prevention and crisis help line to a network of a large number of crisis centers in the United States and Canada that provide 24/7 service via a toll-free hotline and with the three-digit short code telephone number 9-8-8.

In the United States, the 988 short code was implemented in July 2022 as an addition to its predecessor, a 1-800 number that existed since 2005. Calls to the hotline are routed to the nearest crisis center that provides immediate counseling and a referral to a local mental health service. The service supports people who call for their own crisis or for someone they care about.

Lifeline is a non-profit organisation that provides free, 24-hour telephone crisis support service in Australia. Volunteer crisis supporters provide suicide prevention services, mental health support and emotional assistance through methods via telephone, face-to-face communication and online.

The telephone service can be accessed by calling 13 11 14 within Australia.

A suicide method is any means by which a person may choose to end their life. Suicide attempts do not always result in death, and a non-fatal suicide attempt can leave the person with serious physical injuries, long-term health problems, or brain damage.

Worldwide, three suicide methods predominate, with the pattern varying in different countries: these are hanging, pesticides, and firearms. Some suicides may be preventable by removing the means. Making common suicide methods less accessible leads to an overall reduction in the number of suicides.