ABSTRACT
Reducing suicide rates is a key mental health social policy objective worldwide, and has been so for the past decade. The prioritisation of suicide prevention is justi®ed on moral, clinical and ethical grounds (Reulbach and Bleich, 2008); the psychological impact of suicide is massive, and yet also dif®cult to quantify, since the self-destruction of a life ± itself a grievous loss ± is accompanied by manifest and signi®cant impact on the lives of others connected with the suicidal person. The costs in terms of mental health and well-being are immense.
