Presentation for the Kazakhstan International Public Fund 4th March 2022 on suicide prevention in Finland, with a special focus on measures to address the high suicide mortality among young people.

1. 4.3.2022 Kristian Wahlbeck
Finnish experience of overcoming suicidal
behaviour in adolescents and youth
4.3.2022
Kristian Wahlbeck
MIELI Mental Health Finland

2. FINLAND
• 5.5 million inhabitants
• 309 municipalities
• Decision-making power largely decentralised to municipalities
• Municipalities are responsible for arranging the basic services for inhabitants (child
day care, education, social and health services)
• Municipalities have the right to collect income taxes
• Active civic society, thousands of NGOs in the health field alone
2
4.3.2022 Kristian Wahlbeck

3. .fi
Principles of Finnish health care
Universality
Solidarity
Equity
The right to adequate health care is enshrined in the
Constitution

4. .fi
Suicide mortality in Finland today
• Suicide mortality: 13 / 100 000
• Suicide mortality is highest among young men (25-34 years)
• Suicide mortality of women is one third of mortality among men.
Among women, the suicide risk is highest among 20-24 year old

5. .fi
Successful suicide prevention
-suicide mortality halved since 1990
Suicide mortality / 100 000 inhabitants
Men
Women

6. .fi
Successful suicide prevention
-suicide mortality halved since 1990
Suicide mortality / 100 000 inhabitants
Nationwide suicide prevention programme
Men
Women

7. .fi
Success factors of Finnish suicide prevention
• Local implementation
• Cross-sectoral collaboration
• Building awareness and reducing stigma of mental disorders
• Involvement of stakeholders outside of health care, including police and NGOs
• Hundreds of local projects, most of them without funding
• Training of GPs and health care staff
• Control of access to alcohol

8. .fi
Successful suicide prevention
-linked to alcohol consumption
Suicide mortality / 100 000 inhabitants
Men
Women
Reduced alcohol tax

9. .fi
Successful suicide prevention
-linked to economic situation
Suicide mortality / 100 000 inhabitants
Men
Women
Economic
boom
Economic
recession

10. .fi
The effect of economic downturns on suicide
mortality
• In many countries, economic downturns have been linked to increased
suicide numbers
• In countries with well developed social security systems
(unemployment benefits, family support, etc) the association seems to
be reversed (eg. data from Iceland, Finland)

11. Finland:
Age-specific suicide mortality
(per 100 000
people in the age group)
Age group 25-64 y. Age group 65+ y. Age group 0-17 y. Age group 18-24 y.
4.3.2022 Kristian Wahlbeck

12. Suomen Mielenterveys ry
4.3.2022 Kristian Wahlbeck
Finland has had less success in the prevention
of suicides among young people
• suicides of young people in Finland have not decreased to the same extent as in
the general population
• suicides among young women is increasing

13. Rising suicide mortality among young women
4.3.2022 Kristian Wahlbeck
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
1980-84 1985-89 1990-94 1995-99 2000-4 2005-9 2010-14 2015-19
Suicide mortality, women, ag group 15-24 years
(suicides / 100 000 women of same age)
Source: Statistics Finland

14. Suicide mortality of young women in Europe
4.3.2022 Kristian Wahlbeck
Source: WHO Europe

15. Mental distress has increased among girls due to
the COVID pandemic
One in three girls reports moderate or severe anxiety.
N=264 878
Source: THL
4.3.2022 Kristian Wahlbeck
8-9th grade boys
8-9th grade girls
High school boys
High school girls
Vocational training boys
Vocational training girls

16. .fi
Mental health of young people and the COVID
pandemic
• Mental wellbeing has decreased
• Symptoms of mental distress have increased
• Still, a majority of Finnish youth have good mental health
• So far no increase in mental disorders or suicides can be seen
• More young people seek support from mental health services

17. MIELENTERVEYDEN EDISTÄMINEN
Why does mental distress among
young people increase?
4.3.2022 Kristian Wahlbeck
• A lack of confidence in the future due
to external circumstances such as
global climate change and Ukraine
crisis
• Reduced social support due to COVID
lock downs
• A feeling to have been let down by
previous generations

18. Finland has had less success in prevention of suicides
among young people
• suicides of young people in Finland have not decreased to the same extent
as in the general population
• suicides among young women is increasing
• new national suicide prevention programme started in 2020
• Focus on raising awareness, improving early access to support and identification of risk
groups.
4.3.2022 Kristian Wahlbeck

19. Mental health is shaped early in life
Half of all mental disorders start before age 0f 15

20. Mental health determinants & risk factors
4.3.2022 Kristian Wahlbeck
Socio-economic determinants
(poverty, social exclusion)
Alcohol and illegal drug use
Common for all NCDs Specific for mental health
Early interaction deficits
Neglect, abuse and harsh
upbringing
School bullying
Work place stress
Lack of social support &
networks
Community environment

21. New actions to address suicides of young people in
Finland
• Sekasin mental health chat for ages 12-29, open every day 9-24, 28 000 chat
discussions/year, based on volunteers
• Sekasin Gaming mental health community on Discord, > 21 000 members
(mostly boys), 18 000 discussions on theme mental health/year
• Mental health introduced as a topic in preschool and elementary school
curriculum
• Exensive training for in brief psychotherapy school wellbeing and health
staff (IPC and KoolKids)

22. Finnish experience of overcoming suicidal behaviour in
adolescents and youth
-suicide prevention requires actions specifically targeting young people
-success in suicide prevention in the general population does not automatically
translate into success among young
-low threshold, accessible services are needed, preferably in the everyday environment
of young people
-volunteer work and NGOs are essential resources to provide low threshold services
4.3.2022 Kristian Wahlbeck

23. .fi
.fi
Thank you!
kristian.wahlbeck@mieli.fi
Twitter @mentalblog
LinkedIn wahlbeck
https://mieli.fi/en/ (english)
https://mieli.fi/ru/ (РУССКИЙ)