Citation

Lancet T. Lancet 2023; 401(10384): e1241.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2023, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1016/S0140-6736(23)00764-X

PMID

37061255

Abstract

Providing care and treatment for people with suicidal ideas, rather than subjecting them to a criminal process, seems intuitively humane and appropriate. And yet, in more than 20 countries, suicide and attempted suicide remain an offence punishable by imprisonment and fines for those who survive, and financial penalties for the families of those who do not. The continuation of laws against suicide and attempted suicide is partly based on two contentious beliefs that need to be interrogated.
The first is that legislation acts as a deterrent. But it is hard to imagine that an individual in a state of mental distress is considering the finer points of the law. And categorical proof of a deterrent effect is difficult to obtain. Deaths by suicide and attempted suicide are often under-reported or misclassified, and the evidence base is further muddied by differences in implementation of punitive laws. As a result, studies have mixed findings. In some countries, suicide rates have increased after decriminalising attempted suicide; and there is evidence that countries that continue to criminalise attempted suicide have lower suicide rates than the global average. However, a study published last year reported that criminalisation of suicide was associated with slightly increased national suicide rates, especially in women...

Language: en