While more than 700 people attempt to commit suicide every day in France, specialists point out that there are effective means of preventing suicide.
Acting against suicide as the public authorities have done against road accidents, specialists dream of it. As the 11 beginsth World Suicide Prevention Day, and that the Minister of Health, Marisol Touraine, today launched the National Suicide Observatory, associations and health professionals recall that, even if the statistics have been on the decline for 20 years, it remains urgent to act. Nearly 10,500 French people end their life each year, and France currently remains one of the European countries with the highest suicide rate: 16.4 (death rate per 100,000) or more than twice more than in Italy or Spain. However, means of action to prevent suicide exist, in France and abroad, and some of these tools have even already proven their effectiveness.
Identify and act on risk factors
Although suicide is not generally the result of a single cause, certain risk factors are now well identified. Detecting and treating alcoholism, or even improving the care of patients suffering from a mental illness such as schizophrenia, are now among the levers clearly identified by experts to reduce the risk of suicide. This is also the case with depression, which is currently one of the most important risk factors on which it is possible to act. “Particularly in men and the elderly, several studies have shown that by better training general practitioners in the screening and treatment of depression, we reduce the suicide rate,” explains Prof. Jean-Louis Terra, psychiatrist at the Vinatier hospital in Bron.
Listen to Prof. Jean Louis Terra, psychiatrist: ” The Observatory will have to assess whether France still has a potential for improvement in the treatment of depression. In the elderly, depression is sometimes mentioned but not necessarily treated. “
Preventive initiatives are also useful in the hospital environment. A British study published in the Lancet in 2012 had shown that by strictly applying 9 recommendations on suicide prevention in psychiatric services, up to 200 suicides could be avoided per year. In this study, the psychiatric services had, for example, set up a crisis unit available 24 hours a day or even a special follow-up of patients within 7 to 7 days after their discharge from the hospital.
10 to 30 million firearms in circulation
As part of an effective suicide prevention policy, several experiments have shown that reducing access to the most frequently used lethal means lowers the rate of action. “In terms of firearms, we could do better in France. Between hunters, collectors, sports shooters, self-defense weapons, there are between 10 and 30 million firearms in circulation, ”explains Jean-Louis Terra. Some countries have even shown that changing the packaging of certain drugs, in particular by reducing the number of tablets per blister, slightly reduces the number of suicides. But this reduction in access to resources also involves fairly simple tools: securing access to certain major monuments, to rails or to bridges. Small actions, such as information posters in strategic places, can sometimes even be useful in defusing the act.
Listen Prof. Jean Louis Terra: ” Stickers with emergency numbers on bridges in the United States have prevented suicides without being transferred to other more lethal means. “
Postcards to prevent recurrence
Finally, to improve the prevention of the risk of suicide, the experts are categorical: it is essential to establish a systematic follow-up of people after a first suicide attempt. After a first attempt, about 40% of people on average reoffend. Moreover, to limit this new act, several international teams are experimenting with monitoring systems to spot a new crisis. A French experiment carried out in 23 centers has recently shown good results. The project called Algos notably offered patients a call number available 24 hours a day and in the event of a call, an emergency consultation was organized. For repeat offenders, this monitoring system also provided for the sending of postcards and regular telephone contact after the suicide attempt.
It therefore seems that the means to prevent suicide are not lacking, unfortunately in France they are still very scattered. For several years now, specialists and associations alike have been calling for greater involvement of the public authorities in order to carry out major national action. Marisol Touraine seems to have heard the call. “We were asked to participate in this major project and are very favorable to the creation of this risk observatory with 2 essential levels. The first is to bring together the information that exists and coordinate it. And above all, to develop studies on suicidal processes. We need it both sociologically and in the field of neuroscience, ”concludes Françoise Facy, president of the National Union for Suicide Prevention (UNSP).
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