Although suicide is a very complex, multicausal behaviour, Hungarian and international results show that untreated or unsuccessfully treated major depressive episode is the leading cause of suicide, particularly in the presence of other suicide risk factors. However, large-scale, long-term clinical follow-up studies clearly demonstrate that appropriate acute and prophylactic pharmacotherapy of major mood disorders substantially reduces the suicide mortality even in this high-risk population.

Between 1980 and 2003, in Western and Central Europe, out of the 13 countries with high baseline suicide rates (20 or more) in 1980/1981, 10 countries (Denmark, Hungary, Austria, Switzerland, Estonia, Slovenia, Latvia, Finland, Czech Republic and Belgium) showed decrease (in average: 26.9%, range: 6-57%), and 3 countries (Lithuania, Russian Federation Ukraine) showed increase (in average: 15.7%, range: 10-25%). Out of the 16 countries with low baseline suicide rates (less than 20) 9 countries (Sweden, Germany, U.K., Norway, Greece, Slovakia, Netherlands, France and Italy) showed decrease (in average 15.2%, range: 7-31%), and 7 countries (Ireland, Spain, Romania, Poland, Portugal, Iceland and Bulgaria) showed increase (in average 49.1%, range: 3-102%). In the vast majority of the countries, unemployment, alcohol consumption, GDP, and divorce rate did not correlate with changing suicide rates and the only and mostly consistent (negative) correlation has been found between increase in antidepressant-prescription (9-fold increase in Hungary) and declining suicide rates (38% decrease in Hungary. Political / economic changes after 1990 does not seem to have a fundamental role in changing suicide rates in Western and Central Europe.