Suicide, psychiatric reform, and the provision of psychiatric services in Italy

Studied the effect of the 1978 psychiatric reform in Italy on suicide by comparing the suicide trend during the prereform quinquennium (1973-1977) with that of the postreform quinquennium (1979-1983). Using regional data, results show that the suicide rate in Italy as a whole had increased consistently over the past 10-15 yrs and that the increase was largely confined to the north-central parts of the country. No clear time trend emerged with respect to the proportion of suicides classified as being due to mental illness. The difference between the 2 5-yr trends (1973-1977 and 1979-1983) was positive (i.e., an increase in the suicide rate) for 10 of the 19 regions in Italy and correlated negatively with the provision of general hospital psychiatric beds. The postreform regional provision of mental hospital beds was not related to changes in the suicide rate. (PsycLIT Database Copyright 1987 American Psychological Assn, all rights reserved)