ABSTRACT
Belgium is one of the Western European countries where the suicide rate has increased during the past decades. The most recent data of the Flemish Region (northern part of the country, 6.1 million inhabitants) concern the year 2007, with the male suicide rate of 22.57/100,000 and the female suicide rate of 9.77/100,000. Suicide is the second-leading cause of death among those aged 15-24 years, and the fi rst cause of death in males aged 25-49 years and in females aged 20-39 years. Half of both male and female suicides are younger than 50 years old.
