Suicide and Suicide Prevention in Slovenia

Slovenia is among the countries where suicide is a major social and public health problem. For many decades Slovenia had a suicide ratio around 30 per 10,000 inhabitants, ranking it among the top three countries in the world. After the year 2000, the number of suicides began to decline and has stabilized at slightly more than 20 in recent years. Despite the 30% decrease in suicide mortality over the last two decades, it is still among the countries with the highest suicide rate.

The highest ratio is among the elderly between 80 and 84 years. There are more suicides among men, but more attempts among women. The most striking difference between genders is the fact that men use more dangerous methods. North-Eastern regions of Slovenia are more vulnerable to suicide. These regions also experience greater alcohol abuse, less psychiatric assistance, greater social risk, and more approving attitudes toward suicide. These are culturally contingent factors that adversely affect suicidal behaviour.

Many preventive activities have been going on in the country, even though there is no specific national suicide prevention plan (rather, a subsection of national mental heatlh resolution is dedicated to suicide). Preventive measure (among others) focus on actions such as youth interventions, gatekeepers trainings, responsible media reporting, raising mental health literacy and awareness trainings.