Decrease in number of cases of suicide in canton reported

Not long ago, someone committed suicide at Zug Station. A tragic event. Who could disagree? However, thanks to an ongoing prevention scheme, the number of suicides in the canton has fallen steadily over recent years.
 
When the cantonal director of health, Martin Pfister, heard of the latest suicide, he expressed his sorrow, while at the same time considering what steps might be taken in future to prevent such tragic events. As mentioned, recent figures show that the number of suicides in the canton have fallen considerably, with far fewer non-assisted cases of suicide reported here since 2010, especially when compared with the statistics in the country overall.
 
Figures for the year 2014 showed that, whereas 12.9 people per 100,000 killed themselves in Switzerland, the figure for Zug was 9.5. In an inter-cantonal study, Zug came 18^th in a list of figures relating to women committing suicide, whereas in the case of men, Zug came 26^th, or bottom. Overall, Zug had the second lowest rate of incidents of suicide, though what should be made clear is that these figures are based on periods covering five years.
 
Concrete figures for Zug showed that, between 2008 and 2015, 112 people committed suicide in canton, which works out at 14 per year on average. By comparison, between the years 1991 and 2007, 314 people committed suicide, or 18 per year on average. What should also be taken into consideration here, is that statistics are based on where the suicide took place rather than the place of residence of the victim. Between the years 1991 and 2007, one quarter of those who killed themselves lived beyond the cantonal boundaries.
 
All this leads one to conclude that efforts to prevent suicide as conducted by the Cantonal Department of Health in recent years have been effective. Indeed, in 2003 Zug began a campaign against depression and since 2007 initiated another to support mental health; a further one started in 2010 looking into early signs of problems which could lead to suicide. Pfister thought it only right that his predecessor at the department should be recognised for his efforts in this area, while making his commitment to boost the mental health of the population, too. He went on to mention what the Zug health system in general offered in relation to ensuring good mental health provision as well as the major contributions the Zugersee Psychiatric Clinic, the Meisenberg Clinic and the ambulatory psychiatric services made, too. The CVP politician also thought the generally healthy mental wellbeing of the younger members of the population helped to boost the positive trend in relation to these figures.
 
It was mentioned too, how there had been fewer instances of people committing suicide from the bridges over the River Lorze, thanks in no small way to safety precautions taken on the bridges themselves. Whereas on average 3.2 people committed suicide from this bridge between the years 1991 and 2007, now this figure is down to one a year. As to the telephone helplines in place at this location, it was thought they only played a subsidiary role in prevention.
 
Of course, as Pfister emphasised, there can be no let-up in measures to prevent suicide, with the Swiss State launching its own suicide prevention campaign in autumn of last year, very similar to the one launched earlier in Zug. It is only since statistics provided by the Prosecution Service and anonymous data relating to the ambulatory psychiatric service that it has been possible to begin to assess how effective suicide prevention is.
 
It was also thought amnesties in relation of weapons also had an influence in reducing incidents of suicide, especially bearing in mind that shooting oneself, often with a weapon related to military use, was a preferred method used by men. Pfister himself was not for a total ban on men keeping weapons in their own homes, especially bearing in mind that those involved with military service now had the option of keeping their weapons in local arsenals. Out of interest, the canton of Zug has organised amnesties for weapons in three recent years, namely in 2008, 2010 and 2013.
 
What also remains to be done is to remove the taboo associated with mental disorders. While progress has been made in this area in recent years, much still has to be done, for example in the way people regard those suffering from schizophrenia. It was hoped, too, that there would be fewer cases of assisted suicide, as improvements were made in palliative care.