Suicidology

David - The Death of Socrates
Socrates about to take the poison cup (detail from The Death of Socrates)

Suicidology is the scientific study of suicidal behaviour, the causes of suicidalness and suicide prevention.[1] Every year, about one million people die by suicide, which is a mortality rate of sixteen per 100,000 or one death every forty seconds.[2] Suicidologists believe that suicide is largely preventable with the right actions, knowledge about suicide, and a change in society's view of suicide to make it more acceptable to talk about suicide. There are many different fields and disciplines involved with suicidology, the two primary ones being psychology and sociology.

  1. ^ Maris, Berman, Silverman, Ronald, Alan, Mortan (2000). Comprehensive Textbook of Suicidology. New York: The Guilford Press. p. 3.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  2. ^ "Suicide prevention (SUPRE)". WHO. Archived from the original on July 1, 2004. Retrieved 2011-03-31.