General Hospital Psychiatry
Volume 32, Issue 5 , Pages 514-518, September 2010

Reducing suicides through an alliance against depression?

  • Bettina Hübner-Liebermann, M.Sc.

      Affiliations

    • Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University of Regensburg, 93042 Regensburg, Germany
    • Corresponding Author InformationCorresponding author. Tel.: +49 (0)941/941 1621; fax: +49 (0)941/941 1605.
    • ,
  • Tanja Neuner, M.Sc.

      Affiliations

    • Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University of Regensburg, 93042 Regensburg, Germany
    • ,
  • Ulrich Hegerl, M.D., Ph.D.

      Affiliations

    • Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University of Leipzig, 04103 Leipzig, Germany
    • ,
  • Göran Hajak, M.D., Ph.D.

      Affiliations

    • Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University of Regensburg, 93042 Regensburg, Germany
    • ,
  • Hermann Spießl, M.D., Ph.D.

      Affiliations

    • Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University of Regensburg, 93042 Regensburg, Germany
    • Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, State Hospital Landshut, 84034 Landshut, Germany

Received 24 February 2009; accepted 29 June 2010. published online 11 August 2010.

Abstract 

Background

Since 2003, the Regensburg Alliance Against Depression, the regional partner of the German Alliance Against Depression, has been conducting a four-level intervention program to improve early detection and treatment of patients with depression, which was successfully piloted in the framework of the German Research Network on Depression and Suicidality.

Methods

After 5 years of campaign, the suicide rates before and after the intervention were evaluated in comparison with two control regions and with the German overall rate.

Findings

The results show that only the suicide rate in Regensburg fell significantly during the intervention period. The drop in the suicide rate was due to a significant decrease in male suicides.

Interpretation

An intensive community-based campaign could be effective in lowering suicide rates. Especially, the combination of continuing medical educations (CMEs) for general practitioners focusing on ‘male depression’ and low-threshold campaigns for the general public seems to reach male depressive patients.

Keywords: Suicide, Depression, Psychiatry, Prevention, Gender

To access this article, please choose from the options below

Login to an existing account or Register a new account.

  • Purchase this article for 31.50 USD (You must login/register to purchase this article)

    Online access for 24 hours. The PDF version can be downloaded as your permanent record.

  • Subscribe to this title

    Get unlimited online access to this article and all other articles in this title 24/7 for one year.

  • Claim access now

    For current subscribers with Society Membership or Account Number.

  • Visit SciVerse ScienceDirect to see if you have access via your institution.
 

 Recent epidemiologic studies have found that most patients with mental illness are seen exclusively in primary care medicine. These patients often present with medically unexplained somatic symptoms and utilize at least twice as many health care visits as controls. There has been an exponential growth in studies in this interface between primary care and psychiatry in the last 10 years. This special section, edited by Jürgen Unutzer, M.D., will publish informative research articles that address primary care-psychiatric issues.

PII: S0163-8343(10)00137-4

doi:10.1016/j.genhosppsych.2010.06.008

General Hospital Psychiatry
Volume 32, Issue 5 , Pages 514-518, September 2010

Article Tools

* Image Usage & Resolution