The Hidden Epidemic

The Hidden Epidemic is partly the outcome of a survey of people who had attempted suicide. The survey produced valuable qualitative evidence about how people felt in the period immediately prior to their attempted suicide. This is unusual data, and goes a long way toward humanising suicide. The Hidden Epidemic also draws upon quantitative data from the survey and secondary data from government and academic sources to examine the prevalence of suicide and attempted suicide together with the factors that underlie them. Drawing on the evidence, The Hidden Epidemic examines the way the state, through mental health services, has tried to deal with suicide. In the last chapter, we look at what could be done to promote mental health as a means of reducing the rate of suicide. This is based on the view that the rate of suicide in any particular country is a measure of the general mental health of the overall society. If this is so, then it will require improvements in the mental health of the whole society to bring about significant falls in the rate of suicide.