Nearly half of us know someone who ended their life by suicide. Worldwide, 700,000 people die by suicide each year. In Canada, 12 people die by suicide each day — and another 200 attempt suicide. While the prevalence and destructiveness of suicide is clear, much less is known about why people die by suicide.
Alcohol is believed to be a major contributor to death by suicide. Among people who die by suicide, alcoholism is the second-most common mental disorder, and is involved in roughly one in four deaths by suicide. However, there is still much to learn. As a psychologist and scientist, my research aims to understand whether alcohol actually increases the risk of dying by suicide.
