The Epidemiology of Suicide in London

The paper considers trends in the incidence of suicide in London in relation to national trends and highlights the distinctive fall in its suicide levels. Within London differentials across boroughs and wards are investigated, with particular regard to contextual variability across subpopulations in the impact of social deprivation and social fragmentation (anomie). Patterns of causation also differ for suicide disaggregated by age group and sex. The relevance of these differentials for explaining the distinctive trend in London's overall suicide rate is discussed.