From risk detection into safety actions for suicide prevention
Deaths from suicide have been recorded in Finland since 1751. Thus far, there have been two nationwide suicide prevention programmes in Finland, the first one in 1986–1996, and the second one as part of the national mental health strategy for 2020–2030. See figure above.
Suicide mortality in Finland from 1751 to 2021.
Suicide rate in Finland
The suicide mortality was reduced by 13% during the first national suicide prevention programme, from 28.2 to 24.6 (per 100,000). According the internal and external evaluations, the programme succeeded to change practices of professionals, especially in the primary health care and for treatment of depression, as well as to change the way suicides were reported in the media. At the beginning of the second national suicide prevention programme, the suicide mortality was 13.0 (per 100,000).
Second nationwide suicide prevention programme 2020-2030
The programme delivers a rationale and an action plan for
- Awareness raisin
- Impacting the means of suicide
- Early intervention
- Supporting risk groups
- Developing care options
- Increasing media competence
- Strengthening knowledge basis and research
Further, it applies three indicators for assessment of the outcome.
Actions in concrete taken already before the start of the Programme for Suicide Prevention (as part of the National Mental Health Strategy) for 2020–2030 include monitoring suicides from the official cause of death investigations since 2016, conducting the National Action Plan for Safety Promotion among Children and Youth for 2018–2025, and running the National Coordinating Network for Suicide Prevention Work for 2019–2024.
Virtual school for suicide prevention
THL opened the non-profit, open-access virtual school for suicide prevention in 2020, has been organising the series of open seminars/webinars on the 10th of September since 2020, has been supporting the five development projects in the field at grass-roots level for 2021–2023, has been creating the contents of the virtual school on Challenging interactions together with the Police University College in 2021–2022, and joined the ImpleMENTAL (European Union Joint Action on Implementation of Best Practices in the area of Mental Health) Work Package for suicide prevention for 2021–2024.
Current care guidelines
To impact the treatment and enhance suicide prevention, there are national Current care guidelines by the Finnish Medical Society DUODECIM for Alcohol abuse, Anxiety disorders, Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, Bipolar disorder, Borderline personality disorder, Depression, Drug abuse, Eating disorders, Insomnia, Post-traumatic stress disorder, Schizophrenia, and Treatment of suicidal patient and suicide prevention in health care, as updated since 2013. Health care professionals follow these guidelines in clinical practice.
Past seminars
The first seminar of the 10th of September series aimed at increasing media competence and delivered the 8-item checklist from journalist to journalists for responsible reporting on suicide. The second one focused on mental health issues among the adolescents and young adults. The next one emphasises the detection of suicide risk.
Webinar about suicide risk
On Friday 9 September 2022, Prof Lars Mehlum, from the National Centre for Suicide Research and Prevention, Institute of Clinical Medicine, University of Oslo, will present research findings on suicide risk detection. Prof Jordi Blanch, from the Department of Psychiatry and Psychology, Hospital Clinic of Barcelona, and University of Barcelona, will discuss about barriers to suicide risk detection. After these two presentations in English, the seminar will continue in Finnish and share the experience on suicide detection at grass-roots level by one of the development projects, and the talk by a trained expert by experience on how his risk of suicide was detected.
By listening these four seminar presentations we learn about not only the importance of but also difficulties in suicide risk detection as well as receive instructions on what to do in the emergency.
Contact information
Timo Partonen
MD, research professor
tel. +358 (0)29 524 8859
[email protected]
