The Effects of Urban and/or Rural Living Environments on Mental Health and Suicide Risk Across All Ages

Dear Colleagues,

Suicide constitutes a profound societal and healthcare challenge, claiming approximately 700,000 deaths per year globally [1]. Given this, it is a global public health priority to reduce these preventable deaths [2]. Nevertheless, despite a large body of evidence supporting cost-effective interventions [3,4], suicide rates continue to rise, highlighting an urgent need for innovative approaches to prevention. This challenge is exacerbated in those with a diagnosable mental health condition such as Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD), mild/moderate depression, or Major Depressive Disorder (MDD), as well as stigma and reluctance among people not wishing to discuss their problems with healthcare providers [5]. This results in a large number of suicides remaining unknown to health and care systems [6] and requires alternative approaches to prevention efforts. In addition, there are a myriad of inter-related, complex factors (such as where someone lives, the environment, health inequalities, poor mental and/or physical health, and diverse social determinants of health) that increase the risk of poor mental health and suicide [7]. Improving our understanding of the factors leading to reduced mental wellbeing and developing diagnoses for mental conditions before crisis is reached in both those receiving support and those not accessing services would provide us with an opportunity to improve public health suicide prevention programmes globally. This could be achieved by using novel insights to identify and inform timely and adaptive personalised prevention initiatives [8]. Further research will help us develop a mix of informed policies that support the development of universal, selective, and indicated interventions [9], which includes early screening, diagnosis, treatment, and recovery from a mental illness [10].

Acknowledgements: This Special Issue has been delivered through the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) [HDRC Cornwall]. The views expressed are those of the author(s) and not necessarily those of Public Health, Cornwall Council, the NIHR or the Department of Health and Social Care.

References

1. Lejeune, A., Glaz, A.L., Perron, P.-A., Sebti, J., Baca-Garcia, E. Walter, M., Lemey, C., Berrouiguet, S. Artificial intelligence and suicide prevention: a systematic review. European Psychiatry, 2022, 65(1), e19. https://doi.org/10.1192/j.eurpsy.2022.8
2. Office for Health Improvement & Disparities. Prevention concordat for better mental health. 2023. Available online: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/prevention-concordat-for-better-mental-health (accessed on 8 August 2025).
3. Le, L.K.-D., Esturas, A.C., Mihalopoulos, C., Chiotelis, O., Bucholc, J., Chatterton, M.L., Engel, L. Cost-effectiveness evidence of mental health prevention and promotion interventions: A systematic review of economic evaluations. PLoS Medicine, 2021, 18(5), e1003606. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1003606
4. Kadel, R., Stielke, A., Ashton, K., Masters, R., Dyakova, M. Social Return on Investment (SROI) of mental health related interventions—A scoping review. Frontiers in public health, 2022, 10, p. 965148. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2022.965148
5. Khan, N.Z. and M.A. Javed, Use of artificial intelligence-based strategies for assessing suicidal behavior and mental illness: A literature review. Cureus, 2022, 14(7), e27225. doi:10.7759/cureus.27225
6. Chappell, P. Suicide Annual Report 2021. 2021. Available online: https://www.cornwall.gov.uk/media/mzfnspc2/suicide-annual-report-2021_final.pdf (accessed on 8 August 2025)
7. Chappell, P., et al., Study into suicide related inquest reports in Cornwall, Southwest of England during the time of the COVID-19 pandemic. Unpublished work, 2025.
8. Boggs, J.M. and J.M. Kafka. A critical review of text mining applications for suicide research. Current Epidemiology Reports, 2022, 9(3), 126—134. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40471-022-00293-w
9. Turecki, G., Brent, D.A., Gunnell, D., O’Connor, R.C., Oquendo, M.A., Pirkis, J. and Stanley, B.H. Suicide and suicide risk. Nature reviews. Disease Primers, 2019, 5, 74. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41572-019-0121-0
10. Timmons, A.C., Duong, J.B., Fiallo, N.S., Lee, T., Vo, H.P.Q., Ahle, M.W., Comer, J.S., Brewer, L.C., Frazier, S.L., Chaspari, T. A call to action on assessing and mitigating bias in artificial intelligence applications for mental health. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 2023, 18(5), 1062-1096. https://doi.org/10.1177/17456916221134490

Dr. Richard Alan Sharpe
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2500 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.