Suicides under-reported by 40%, a new study suggests

The number of suicides in Canada may be under-reported by as much as 40 per cent in some provinces, obscuring the true extent of mental health’s most dire problem, suggests a new study.

Researchers in Montreal theorized that deaths due to injuries of “undetermined intent” are often cases of people killing themselves, but the true circumstances are unclear, or hidden by embarrassed family members.

Adding those deaths to the official suicide totals produced large increases in the suicide statistics in some jurisdictions.

Exactly how many of those undetermined deaths were self-inflicted is an open question, the researchers conceded. But the findings at least raise the possibility that the breadth of Canada’s suicide problem is being substantially minimized.

“We monitor rates of suicide, they have been going down,” said Dr. Nathalie Auger, a physician and epidemiologist at the University of Montreal. “It’s a positive thing. But it may not be true.”