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Means Restriction

Recent reviews of the evidence confirm that the presence of firearms in the home represents an independent risk factor for suicide among young people. Specifically, studies undertaken in the United States which compared youth suicide victims with community controls found that guns were four to five times more likely to be found in the homes of those who died by suicide, even after adjusting for confounding variables like psychopathology.68 While in Canada, the relative risk of youth suicide as a result of firearms being kept in the home is less than the United States it is still important to consider and strengthen opportunities to modify the environments of potentially high-risk youth wherever possible.

Findings from other countries also suggest that means restrictions efforts can have an important impact on reducing suicidal behaviour and suicide rates. 69 70 These measures include: reducing access to domestic gas, gun possession control efforts, reducing carbon monoxide emissions from vehicles, reducing the size of analgesics packages, installing bridge barriers, and safer prescribing practices.

At a more practical level, teaching parents and adult caregivers of at-risk, vulnerable youth about the importance of keeping their homes safe and limiting access to potential means of suicide is another specific strategy that holds promise. In one study, researchers were able to follow adult caretakers, whose children and youth (aged 6 to 19) had attended the emergency department (ED) in the previous two months for a mental health assessment, to determine if receiving means restriction education at the time of their ED visit made a difference in their future actions regarding limiting access to lethal means. Findings revealed that training in means restriction was significantly associated with new action to limit access to firearms, prescriptions, and over-the-counter medications, but not alcohol. 71