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How Lithuania More Than Halved Its Suicide Rate
Key Excerpts from Article on Website of Reasons to be Cheerful
Posted: August 31st, 2026
https://reasonstobecheerful.world/how-lithuania-halved-its-s...
In 2016, [Marius iuželis] and his wife Kristina started Sidabrin Linija, or Silver Line, a nonprofit that offers free support to isolated seniors in Lithuania through regular phone calls with a “befriender” matched to their interests. “On the first day we spoke for 10 minutes. The next time we spoke for nearly an hour, and she shared a lot about her life with me,” recalls iuželis from his office in Vilnius, Lithuania’s capital. “Her husband of 50 years died about six years ago, and she has no children. She is completely alone and in poor health. A social worker visits twice a week, but otherwise she’s basically locked in her house because she can’t move.” Sidabrin Linija, which has befriended 6,000 seniors since its inception, has been just one of the many pieces of the puzzle to reduce Lithuania’s suicide rate, which is particularly high among senior citizens. Senior suicides, according to iuželis, account for more than 39 percent of all deaths of this type. “We may say it’s a natural problem that your support network shrinks when you get older. But let’s imagine the couple who lived happily for 50 years, and now one has gone. We get many calls saying, ‘I tried to do my best to live on my own, but I can’t anymore and I need help.’ We have many callers who say they call us as a last chance,” says iuželis. Mental health support more generally is also expanding nationwide. Since 2020, free psychological well-being services have been available ... in every one of Lithuania’s 60 municipalities.
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