Contents

Disclaimer

Oxford University Press makes no representation, express or implied, that the drug dosages in this book are correct. Readers must therefore always check the product information and clinical procedures with the most up to date published product information and data sheets provided by the manufacturers and the most recent codes of conduct and safety regulations. The authors and the publishers do not accept responsibility or legal liability for any errors in the text or for the misuse or misapplication of material in this work. Except where otherwise stated, drug dosages and recommendations are for the non-pregnant adult who is not breastfeeding.

Show Summary Details
Page of

Suicide prevention in France 

Suicide prevention in France
Chapter:
Suicide prevention in France
Author(s):

Véronique Narboni

and Jean-Pierre Soubrier

DOI:
10.1093/med/9780198570059.003.0117
Page of

PRINTED FROM OXFORD MEDICINE ONLINE (www.oxfordmedicine.com). © Oxford University Press, 2020. All Rights Reserved. Under the terms of the licence agreement, an individual user may print out a PDF of a single chapter of a title in Oxford Medicine Online for personal use (for details see Privacy Policy and Legal Notice).

date: 15 August 2020

France has often been described as an ideal place to live: fine wining and dining, lovely villages and cities, where the pursuit of happiness defines the quality of life. Despite this positive image, another face of French society emerges in a country with one of the highest suicide rates in Europe.

Every year, more than 10,000 people commit suicide in France; representing 1 suicide every 50 minutes. However, recent publications from the High Level Committee on Public Health (Haut comité de Santé publique), state that these figures are underestimated by about 20 per cent. Reasons for underestimation are mainly due to the fact that most suicides are ‘hidden’ behind other more obvious causes of death, such as accidents and drug poisoning, or the simple fact that suicide is not identified as such.

After a significant increase in the 1980s, suicide rates in France have been gradually dropping since 1993. However, today, death by suicide remains high, which is double of that by car accidents. Furthermore, it has been reported that between 160,000 and 180,000 suicide attempts take place every year, representing 16–18 times the number of completed suicides.

In France, suicide is the first cause of death in the 35–44 age group, and the second cause of death in the 15–24 age group, according to the latest statistical analysis (INSERM 2005).

Access to the complete content on Oxford Medicine Online requires a subscription or purchase. Public users are able to search the site and view the abstracts for each book and chapter without a subscription.

Please subscribe or login to access full text content.

If you have purchased a print title that contains an access token, please see the token for information about how to register your code.

For questions on access or troubleshooting, please check our FAQs, and if you can't find the answer there, please contact us.