ABSTRACT
Epidemiology Suicide is an important public health issue but whenever figures on suicide are presented or discussed there is always the question of their reliability since, in some instances, suicide as a reason for death can be hidden. Therefore, the real figures may be higher. The National Clinical Survey carried out by Professor Louis Appelby published in the British Journal of Psychiatry in 2006 as part of the National Confidential Inquiry into Suicide and Homicide by People with Mental Illness from 1996−2000 in England and Wales received notification of 20 927 deaths including 14 048 deaths with coroner’s verdicts of suicide and 6 879 open verdict deaths from undetermined cause. Of these, 5 099 were confirmed to have been in contact with mental health services in the year prior to death. In order to get an idea of how significant suicide is as a cause of death, it is useful to compare these figures with other commonly perceived causes of death. Approximately 2 000 people die from asthma and a further 2 000 from cervical cancer over a similar period.
