[Suicide and suicide attempts: acts of complete despair]

In The Netherlands about 1400 people commit suicide each year. This number is much higher than that of deaths due to traffic accidents. The means people use to end their lives are often heartbreaking. Many of them hang themselves, throw themselves in front of a train or jump from a high building. Moreover: the number of non-fatal attempts is also alarming. Many people seem to feel completely hopeless and in deep despair. Probably there is a large dark area in our knowledge. Although a number of these persons are psychiatric patients, of many others little is known and their attempts are often completely unexpected. How can better prevention be achieved? In addition the question can be raised whether means ought to be made available, in order to prevent the use of these violent methods.