Rise and Fall of Suicide Rates in Australia: Relation to Sedative Availability

An investigation has been made of a rise in reported suicide rates in Australia during the period 1960 to 1967, and a subsequent decline in rates since 1967. The changes are evident in both the male and female populations, being more striking in the latter. Suicide by drugs (that is, death following deliberate self-administration of an overdose of a therapeutic substance) is the predominant feature of the rise and fall In both sexes. Estimates have been made of the availability of sedatives in the Australian community over the same period, and a high degree of association between sedative availability and incidence of drug suicide is demonstrated.