Males are more likely to commit suicide than females by a ratio of 3 or 4 to 1 in most Western countries, said Dr. Ougrin, a child and adolescent psychiatrist at South London and Maudsley National Health Service Foundation Trust, leading the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services Enhanced Treatment Service.
Although hanging is the most common method for suicides in most countries, followed by poisoning, more than 50% of suicides in the United States are caused by firearms, he noted.
Risk factors for completed suicide include male sex, low social status, restricted educational achievement, parental mental disorder, individual mental disorder, family history of suicidal behavior, problems with interpersonal relationships, drug and alcohol misuse, and feelings of hopelessness, said Dr. Ougrin, citing data from a 2012 study published in the Lancet (2012 Jun 23. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736[12]60322-5).
The webinar was sponsored by Wiley partnership with the World Federation of Science Journalists and the Association of Health Care Journalists. Dr. Asarnow and Dr. Ougrin had no financial conflicts to disclose. The SEYLE project is supported by the European Union through the Seventh Framework Program. Dr. Barzilay and coauthors of the SEYLE study had no financial conflicts to disclose.