ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Public Health
Sec. Public Mental Health
Volume 13 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2025.1554072
This article is part of the Research TopicCommunity Series In Mental-Health-Related Stigma and Discrimination: Prevention, Role, and Management Strategies, Volume IIIView all 20 articles
Public Mental Health Stigma and Suicide Rates Across Europe
Provisionally accepted
- Department of Psychology, Faculty of Arts, University of Ljubljana, Ljubljana, Slovenia
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Mental health stigma remains a significant concern in public health, particularly due to its complex association with suicide risk. The present investigated whether national levels of mental health stigma predict suicide rates across European Union member states, drawing on the most recent publicly available data. We analyzed stigma measures from the 2022 and 2023 Eurobarometer surveys alongside suicide rates and socio-economic indicators for 27 EU countries. Findings indicated a notable decline in suicide rates between 2010 and 2019, with only four countries reporting increases. Correlational analyses revealed consistent negative associations between suicide rates and stigma measures-particularly the belief that disclosing a mental health condition would negatively affect one's career (E2_1). Hierarchical linear regression models further supported E2_1 as a significant predictor of lower suicide rates. Despite this unexpected pattern, the results underscore the critical need for more systematic, theory-driven approaches to measuring stigma, as inconsistencies in survey items, temporal mismatches between stigma and suicide data, and a lack of standardized instruments complicate efforts to draw conclusive inferences. E2_1's significance may partly reflect the specificity of assessing career-related concerns, stressing the importance of selecting precise indicators that capture relevant dimensions of stigma. Overall, this work highlights how the stigma-suicide link defies simple interpretation, reinforcing calls for longitudinal research using carefully operationalized stigma measures. By employing robust measurement tools and systematic surveillance of mental health attitudes on a multinational scale, future research can better illuminate the complex interplay between stigma and suicidal behavior, ultimately enhancing our efforts toward suicide prevention.
Keywords: mental health stigma, Suicide, Stigma measurement, Public Health, Eurobarometer
Received: 31 Dec 2024; Accepted: 15 May 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Oblak. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Lara Oblak, Department of Psychology, Faculty of Arts, University of Ljubljana, Ljubljana, 1000, Slovenia
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