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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
World
Miranda Bryant

The Finnish miracle: how the country halved its suicide rate – and saved countless lives

Head and shoulders portrait of Veli-Matti Vuorenmaa, who went through a suicide-prevention programme in Helsinki.
‘I could be 100% myself for the first time in my life’ … Veli-Matti Vuorenmaa, who went through a suicide-prevention programme in Helsinki. Photograph: Maija Astikainen/The Guardian

“Now he’s died,” said his mother’s voice down the phone. Instantly, Jaakko Teittinen knew that what he had feared for years had happened: his older brother, Tuomas, had taken his own life. He was 33.

In a state of shock, Jaakko left work to join his mother at Linnanmäki, a theme park in Helsinki, where she was spending the day with Tuomas’s two children, who lived in foster care and had no idea what had just happened. While his mother started to make arrangements, he went on the rides with his brother’s children, trying not to give away what was on his mind.

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