World Suicide Prevention Day

World Suicide Prevention Day is an awareness day observed on September 10 every year, in order to provide worldwide commitment and action to prevent suicides, with various activities around the world. The observance is sponsored and endorsed by the International Association for Suicide Prevention (IASP) and the World Health Organization (WHO).

The theme in 2011 is Preventing Suicide in Multicultural Societies.

SUICIDE FACTS:

1. One million people in the world die each year as a result of suicide.
2. Females attempt suicide four times more often than males but males succeed three times more often than females making the overall suicide rate to be 75% for men and 25% of women.
3. 1 in 65,000 children ages 10 to 14 commit suicide each year.
4. 95% of suicide victims have a psychiatric disorder.
5. Alcohol and drugs are 36% and 16% factors respectively for all suicide victims.
6. According to WHO report, depression is the #1 disability in the world.
7. Worldwide, the most common method of suicide is hanging for males and poisoning (overdose) for females.