Alcohol and suicide in countries of Eastern Europe

This paper summarizes the evidence of the relationship between alcohol and suicide in the Eastern European countries. In a number of studies using various designs alcohol consumption has been found to be important risk factors of suicide in Eastern Europe. The studies presented here suggest that the high level of alcohol consumption in combination with detrimental drinking pattern in the Eastern European countries results in high level of alcohol-related suicides and strong association between alcohol consumption and suicide rates in EE. Overall, accumulated research and empirical evidence suggests that alcohol plays an important role in the suicide burden in Eastern Europe and that the restrictive alcohol policy appears to be one of the most effective suicide prevention strategies.