Weekly News Roundup Dec. 6-12, 2025

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New resource to help countries count cases of suicide more accurately – World Health Organization
December 11, 2025
WHO has released a new guide, Preventing suicide: a resource for strengthening suicide case registration, aiming to “strengthen the death certification and coding processes for suicides.” It is intended for medical certifiers and mortality coders but may also be helpful for police officers, forensic doctors, coroners, and statisticians. WHO says, “Critical to the prevention of suicide is the availability of high-quality, comprehensive data, ideally collected through civil registration and vital statistics (CRVS) systems. Such data help to highlight the scale of the issue and provide essential information – such as age, sex and methods of suicide – that inform the development of timely, evidence-based prevention strategies.”

More focus is needed on childhood sexual abuse to combat Australia’s suicide problem – The Conversation
December 10, 2025
A new report from Suicide Prevention Australia has found that over 60% of Australian adults have experienced one or more adverse childhood experience, such as bullying, grief, neglect, or abuse of some kind. People who have experienced multiple adverse childhood experiences are significantly more likely to have self-harmed or attempted suicide in the past year. An analysis of 47 recent studies found that 1/4 of them found a clear and direct link between child sexual abuse and suicidality. Researchers say, “Current responses focusing just on mental health fail to address the complex set of intersections involved. Education and awareness-raising, and health promotion campaigns should be a priority. Policy and practice need to address impacts of child sexual abuse that intersect with suicidality, along with mental health, social disadvantage, substance abuse, violence and other risk-taking behaviour.”

Why Athletes Continue to Die by Suicide – Psychology Today
December 10, 2025
Although more is being done to improve the mental health among athletes, suicide remains the second leading cause of death among college athletes in the US. Overall, athletes have similar or lower rates of suicidal ideation compared to the general population, but there are several sport-related experiences that can contribute to an elevated suicide risk, including: serious injury and chronic pain, deselection and performance decline, overtraining and burnout, forced or unplanned retirement, and loss of identity following retirement. During these experiences, an athlete’s risk of depression, anxiety, and psychological distress are heightened. To prevent suicide among athletes, sports systems need to: fund mental health positions, protect confidentiality contractually, extend care to everyone (even in the off season), include mental health professionals in administrative decision-making, and integrate race, gender, and sexuality-informed care. The author of this article says, “While athlete mental health providers continue to treat the suffering they meet in their offices, sport institutions must now commit to preventing as much suffering as possible through true investment in comprehensive, athlete-centered mental health services.”

New UBCO research challenges traditional teen suicide prevention models – University of British Columbia
December 9, 2025
A new study by UBC has found that resilience in young people, which is vital to suicide prevention, is shaped by supportive communities. Study co-lead Dr. Katrina Plamondon says, “Most prevention strategies continue to focus on individual behaviours, coping skills or risk profiles. But this approach overlooks the powerful influence of social, structural, political and environmental conditions on youth wellbeing, and often fails to prevent an incredibly tragic loss of life.” The study found that “resilience is an action taken together” as participants said that resilient communities help youth feel they belong, build strong relationships, and feel supported in a positive environment. “These are key areas to focus on if communities truly hope to reduce youth suicides and promote collective thriving,” says Dr. Sana Shahram, Assistant Professor with the School of Nursing at UBC. “We heard from young people and the supportive adults in their lives, showing that resilient communities are active, engaged places where youth feel not only sheltered from harm, but empowered to contribute, collaborate and express themselves.”

Lowest Suicide Rate Is in December but Some in Media Still Promote Holiday-Suicide Myth – Annenberg Public Policy Center
December 8, 2025
US data shows that suicide rates decrease during the year-end holiday season, however, according to a media analysis, some news outlets continue to publish articles containing the incorrect information that suicide rates are higher during this time. APPC research director Dan Romer says, “The holiday myth diverts attention from the fact that suicide is a far greater risk at other times of the year. Efforts to be aware of those risks without sensationalizing its seasonality is a challenge, but it’s one that can be met by educating people about the suicide hotline throughout the year. Rather than sensationalizing the risk over the holidays, media outlets should help those at risk and their families identify sources of help.”