Editorial: Understand the complex phenomenon of suicide: From research to clinical practice

Suicide is undoubtedly a worldwide major challenge for the public health. It is estimated that more than 150,000 persons in Europe die as a result of suicide every year and in several European countries suicide represents the principal cause of death among young people aged 14–25 years (1). Moreover, it has been reported that the standardized death rate for intentional self-harm in the European Union is higher in the elderly (≥65 years) and over than for younger people (2, 3). The highest suicide rates in the world (21–35/100,000) have been found in the countries of Eastern Europe where the numbers of deaths due to suicide may be considered as an emergency (4, 5). Moreover, in a recent study, Olfson et al. (6) have reported that also suicide attempts in USA increased significantly from 0.62 to 0.79% among the adult population aged 21 years and older, based on representative community samples recruited from 2004 to 2005 and 2012 to 2013.