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formidable number of victims. In England and Wales, the number
of suicides during 1964 reached the staggering total of 5,566 giving
a rate of 0.12 per 1,000 population. Moreover, of this total, one
tenth, viz. 554, were recorded in London giving a rate of 0.17
compared with 11 deaths and a rate of 0.13 for Greenwich. Figures
for London in particular throw into relief a psychiatric problem
which is becoming very familiar in the cities of countries which
sustain high living standards, for they were nearly three times those
arising from tuberculosis and substantially more than the total
deaths from road accidents.
Until recently, suicide remained a felony and attempted
suicide an indictable offence and a misdemeanour. It is interesting
to recall that until 1824, the original penalty for suicide was to
be buried at the crossroads with a stake through the heart. From
then onwards until the 1880's the penalty was ameliorated to one
of being buried in unconsecrated ground between 9 p.m. and midnight,
without ceremony. Confiscation of goods by the Crown
which constituted a further penalty was discontinued in 1870.
Society, presumably, has become mature enough to respond
constructively to suicide by providing the maximum of medical
care that these sick people require, for, with the introduction of
the Suicide Act, 1961, the law has been brought into line with
modern thought and attempted suicide is now considered to be a
medical and social problem and not one constituting an indictable
offence.
In general, it is now agreed that the number of suicides could
conceivably be reduced by medical means for in many instances,
signs of abnormality were discernible before death and comparatively
few cases had received psychiatric treatment. Depression,
which appears to be a common factor in elderly suicides, did not
receive as urgent attention as it might have. Much can be achieved,
on the one hand, by the general practitioner in reassuring and
explaining illnesses which often assume monumental proportions
in the lives of the lonely and, on the other, by the lady public
health officer or social worker who could help to disperse some
of the financial worries and assist by bringing community welfare
services to bear.
With a view to determining the number of "useful years lost"
for each of the major causes of death, investigations carried out
several years ago revealed that "automobile and other accidents"
headed the list as the primary cause of premature death with
cancer and heart disease in 3rd and 5th places respectively and that
suicide had moved from 13th to 7th position. In the light of recent
statistics, there is reason to believe that the leading positions have
been further consolidated.