OBJECTIVE:

Antidepressant sales and suicide rates have been shown to be correlated in industrialized countries. The aim was to study the possible effects of psychotherapy utilization on suicide rates.

METHOD:

We assessed the impact of antidepressant sales and psychotherapist density on suicide rates between 1991 and 2005. To adjust for serial correlation in time series, three first-order autoregressive models adjusted for per capita alcohol consumption and unemployment rates were employed.

RESULTS:

Antidepressant sales and the density of psychotherapists in the population were negatively associated with suicide rates.

CONCLUSION:

This study provides evidence that decreasing suicide rates were associated with both increasing antidepressant sales and an increasing density of psychotherapists. The decrease of suicide rates could reflect a general improvement in mental health care rather than being caused by antidepressant sales or psychotherapist density alone.