Suicide Mortality in Spanish Civil Guard

Research focused on particularly vulnerable at-risk groups

A first step in suicide prevention has been the identification of vulnerable at-risk groups. Following this line of research, it has been found that among this groups, law enforcement and police officers are at an elevated risk, where suicide is considered an occupational hazard due to possible factors such as the availability of firearms and the high stress they are subjected to in their profession.

The research led by at the Complutense University has decided to investigate the suicide mortality rates of the Spanish Civil Guard, a subject on which there seems to be a lack of research and estimates, and to analyze them in order to try to obtain results on the risk suffered by this population.

The findings provide robust evidence of an increased risk of suicide mortality among Civil Guard officers compared to the rest of the general Spanish population, especially older men, where stress derived from being first-line professionals and stress related mental health issues could be behind this risk. These results claim to the importance of opening new lines of research and prevention specifically aimed at this vulnerable population.

Original paper: Adriana García-Ramos, Rogelio González-Weiss, Daniel J. López, Iván Pérez-Diez, Verónica Fernandez-Rodrigues, Alejandro de la Torre-Luque. Suicide mortality in a Spanish police force: The case of the civil guard, Revista de Psiquiatría  y Salud Mental, 2023, ISSN 1888-9891. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rpsm.2023.01.002.