Year: 2007 Source: Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine, v.100, no.10, (October 2007), p.461-464 SIEC No: 20080426

In the absence of clear guidelines on suicide prevention there is a pressing need to translate existing & future evidence into policy. Suicide is a behaviour, not a diagnosis, & has diverse underlying pathologies. Interventions have differential effects in specific risk groups, whih may include paradoxical increases in risk. For these reasons, policy makers may need to abandon the goal of one treatment for all & focus on the distinct subgroups of patients at risk when selecting, evaluating, & implementing preventive interventions. (37 refs.)