The World Health Organization (WHO) has released a global suicide report that reveals that more than 800,000 people around the world commit suicide each year. Experts urge public and media not to glamorize and sensationalize suicides.
WHO has released a report called "Preventing suicide: A global imperative" that reveals some important figures and details about suicides across the world. The report highlights that around one person commits suicide every 40 seconds.
Suicides occur throughout the world but around 75 percent of suicides are committed in countries where most of the people have low or middle income. The report also points out that not many countries treat suicides seriously and currently, only 28 countries are reported to have suicide prevention strategies.
Firearms, hanging and pesticide poisoning are believed to be the most common methods of committing suicide across the world. The WHO report also cites evidence from countries such as Australia, Japan, the U.S., Canada and more, which suggests that restricting access to such means can help nations reduce the number of suicides.
People in any age group can commit suicide but the WHO report suggests that people over 70 years have the highest suicide rate globally. The report also highlights that suicide is the primary cause of death in people aged between 15 years and 29 years.
The WHO report also points out that media can contribute to reduce the number of suicides by sensibly reporting them. Experts believe that glamorization of a suicide report can result in the "copycat effect," which may result in more suicides. Per WHO, the method used for suicide by a person should not be detailed in reports.
Well-known actors, musicians and other famous people are reported to have committed suicide. Choi Jin-sil, a South Korean actress committed suicide in 2008. A research conducted by Chung-Ang University suggests that the number of suicide articles, following the death of the actress, spiked suicides by around 80 percent. As many as 37 percent of the articles are believed to have violated WHO's guidelines on suicide stories.
Dr Alexandra Fleischmann, Scientist in the Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse at WHO, and a co-author of the report says that suicides are preventable and media can play an important role to reduce the copycat effect.
"No matter where a country currently stands in suicide prevention," says Fleischmann, "effective measures can be taken, even just starting at local level and on a small-scale."
Governments throughout the world should set up a suicide prevention department, which may help reduce the number of suicides globally.
