Suicide Prevention

Part of the Sustainable Development Goals Programme

Every year, global organisations and communities collaborate to promote worldwide commitment and action to prevent suicides. Suicide is the 15th leading cause of death globally, representing 1 person every 40 seconds who is lost to suicide. The UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) have set out that by 2030 it wants to “reduce by one third, premature mortality from non-communicable diseases through prevention and treatment and promote mental health and well-being”, under which reducing the global suicide rate falls (SDG3.4.2).

As a responsible publisher, Springer Nature is firmly committed to supporting the SDGs and as such we see events such as World Suicide Prevention Day as important global initiatives to engage with, in order to help support global communities – researchers, practitioners and anyone who has an interest in suicide prevention – with access to critical research and debates. We hope that the below content will help to raise awareness of research towards understanding, identifying and helping to better support those at risk and be a useful resource for those working within the field of prevention.

Please note – Springer Nature is a publishing company and therefore does not provide direct medical advice. Whilst the research provided below is a useful resource, it should not replace direct consultation with a medical practitioner. Additional information and contact details can be found on the World Suicide Prevention Day homepages here.

Read a selection of book chapters

These select book chapters are freely available for a limited time.

A collection of curated articles

These select articles are freely available for a limited time. Open access articles are freely available online on a permanent basis.

Late life suicide in Italy

Aging, Clinical and Experimental Research

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Epidemiologic assessment of benzodiazepine exposure among suicide deaths in Colorado, 2015–2017

BMC Public Health

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Prevalence of long gun use in Maryland firearm suicides

Injury Epidemiology

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Another Tragic Epidemic: Suicide

from Scientific American

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Suicide and suicide risk

Nature Reviews Disease Primers

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Adaptive capacities for safe clinical practice for patients hospitalised during a suicidal crisis: a qualitative study

BMC Psychiatry 

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The desire to die in palliative care: a sequential mixed methods study to develop a semi-structured clinical approach

BMC Palliative Care

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Protocol: examining the effectiveness of an adaptive implementation intervention to improve uptake of the VA suicide risk identification strategy: a sequential multiple assignment randomized trial

Implementation Science

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Tailored Activation of Middle-Aged Men to Promote Discussion of Recent Active Suicide Thoughts: a Randomized Controlled Trial

Journal of General Internal Medicine

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A Quasi-Experimental Analysis of Lethal Means Assessment and Risk for Subsequent Suicide Attempts and Deaths

Journal of General Internal Medicine

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Effectiveness of a village-based intervention for depression in community-dwelling older adults: a randomised feasibility study

BMC Geriatrics

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The Treatment of Suicide and Self-Injurious Behaviors in Children and Adolescents

Current Treatment Options in Psychiatry

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Suicide prevention and depression apps’ suicide risk assessment and management: a systematic assessment of adherence to clinical guidelines

BMC Medicine

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Longitudinal Associations Between Healthcare Resources, Policy, and Firearm-Related Suicide and Homicide from 2012 to 2016​​​​​​​

Journal of General Internal Medicine

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Suicide and suicide risk

Nature Reviews Disease Primers

Nature Research 25 px © Springer Nature 2020

Evaluating the Cost Effectiveness of a Suicide Prevention Campaign Implemented in Ontario, Canada

Applied Health Economics and Health Policy

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Program Evaluation and Decision Analytic Modelling of Universal Suicide Prevention Training (safeTALK) in Secondary Schools

Applied Health Economics and Health Policy

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Belief in suicide prevention myths and its effect on helping: a nationally representative survey of Australian adults

BMC Psychiatry

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Psychosocial work exposures and suicide ideation: a study of multiple exposures using the French national working conditions survey​​​​​​​

BMC Public Health

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The ripple effect: a digital intervention to reduce suicide stigma among farming men

BMC Public Health

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The Importance of “Being There”: a Qualitative Study of What Veterans with Depression Want in Social Support

Journal of General Internal Medicine

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Why social justice matters: a context for suicide prevention efforts

International Journal for Equity in Health 

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