Health encyclopaedia

Health encyclopaedia - Alphabetical Topic List

Suicide

Suicide is the act of killing yourself intentionally. The suicide rate has been falling since 1991, but there are still more than 5,000 suicides in the UK each year.

‘Attempted suicide’ (also known as parasuicide, or deliberate self-harm) is the act of unsuccessfully trying to kill yourself, or hurting yourself intentionally. This is much more common than completed suicide and there are at least 140,000 cases each year in England and Wales.

If you’ve had thoughts of suicide recently, or if you are feeling suicidal now, you should contact someone immediately for help. You can dial 999. There are also telephone help lines with specially trained volunteers who will listen to you, understand what you are going through, and help you through the immediate crisis. Or you could contact a friend, family member, someone you trust, or your GP.

Samaritans operate a service that is open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. You can find links to them and to other organisations that can help on our Support organisations page.

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