Open AccessA ssessment of Suicide Risk : Practical Issues
Author(s) -
Seshadri Sekhar Chatterjee
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
bengal journal of psychiatry
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
ISSN - 2348-9227
DOI - 10.51332/bjp.2019.v24.i1.74
Subject(s) - suicide rates , suicide prevention , public health , medicine , incidence (geometry) , suicide risk , medical emergency , poison control , psychiatry , environmental health , demography , sociology , nursing , physics , optics
Suicide is a major public health problem worldwide with complex multifactorial origins. More than 800,000 lives worldwide are lost to suicide every year, and Asia accounts for more than 60% of such deaths. India has seen a steady increase in the incidence of suicidal deaths in the last five decades.1 The estimated suicide-related death rate in India is 21/100,000, which is nearly twice the global average (11.4/100,000) and translates into more than 230,000 lives lost annually.2 Assessment of suicide risk is of utmost importance and is considered one of the key area and responsibilities of a consultant psychiatrist.