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Bringing the Public Health Approach to the Problem of Suicide
Author(s) -
Satcher David
Publication year - 1998
Publication title -
suicide and life‐threatening behavior
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.544
H-Index - 90
eISSN - 1943-278X
pISSN - 0363-0234
DOI - 10.1111/j.1943-278x.1998.tb00968.x
Subject(s) - public health , suicide rates , suicide prevention , mental health , surgeon general , occupational safety and health , psychiatry , poison control , medicine , psychology , medical emergency , environmental health , criminology , nursing , pathology
Suicide and suicidal behavior are public health problems that should be addressed through a systematic public health approach. The need for such an approach can be found, for example, in Pierre, SD, where the suicide rate is 13 times the national rate; in the African American community, where the suicide rate among Black youths more than doubled between 1980 and 1995; and across the United States, where suicides outnumbered homicides in 1995. The U.S. Public Health Service is applying the public health approach to suicide by preparing the first‐ever Surgeon General's Report on Mental Health, and by holding an October conference in Reno aimed at advancing a national strategy for suicide prevention.