Category Archives: Suicide rates

Suicide rates in England and Wales reach highest level since 1999

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Samaritans charity calls on government to invest in suicide prevention as it has with smoking reduction

Ministers have been urged to treat suicide as a public health crisis after the rate at which people killed themselves in England and Wales reached the highest level in more than two decades.

The official figures, described by the suicide prevention charity Samaritans as “worse than expected”, showed 6,069 suicides were registered in the two nations in 2023, up from 5,642 in 2022 and the highest rate since 1999.

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Review dismisses claims youth suicides rose after NHS curbed puberty blockers

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UK government adviser’s report says claims not supported by data and could prompt under-18s to take own life

A government-ordered review has dismissed claims that suicide rates in young people with gender dysphoria have risen sharply since the NHS restricted access to puberty-blocking drugs.

A report by the government’s adviser on suicide prevention also found that the claims – made by the campaign group the Good Law Project – were not supported by data and could prompt children under the age of 18 to take their own life.

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Victoria records highest number of annual suicides since 2000 amid fears of national trend

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Data collected by the state coroners court shows 756 suicides occurred in Victoria in 2022, up 9% from 2021

Victoria has recorded its highest number of annual suicides since the coroner’s court started collecting suicide data in 2000, with mental health workers saying the trend is occurring nationally.

In 2022 there were 756 suicides in Victoria, a 9% increase compared with 2021, according to data published by the coroner’s court on Monday which reveals much of the increase occurred in the latter part of the year.

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Victoria’s 208 LGBTQ+ suicides to be outlined for the first time in new report

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Exclusive: Coroner suspects ‘undercount’ as a decade of suicide data is released to the public

More than 200 LGBTQ+ Victorians have died by suicide in the past decade, according to a first-of-its-kind analysis by the state’s coroner.

In a report to be released on Friday, the coroner’s court of Victoria identified 208 deaths by suicide – recorded between 2012 and 2021 – of people who are LGBTQ+.

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People with recent dementia diagnosis found to have higher suicide risk

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Calls for more support after England research shows those diagnosed under 65 also at greater risk

People who have recently been diagnosed with dementia, or who are diagnosed with the condition at a younger age, are among those at increased risk of suicide, researchers have found. The findings have prompted calls for greater support for those experiencing such cognitive decline.

While previous research has explored a potential link between dementia diagnosis and suicide risk, the results have been inconclusive, with some suggesting a raised risk and others a reduced risk.

•In the UK and Ireland, Samaritans can be contacted on freephone 116 123, or email jo@samaritans.org or jo@samaritans.ie. In the US, the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is at 800-273-8255 or chat for support. You can also text HOME to 741741 to connect with a crisis text line counselor. In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is 13 11 14. Other international helplines can be found at befrienders.org

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Rising humidity could be linked to increase in suicides, report finds

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Increasingly intense and frequent spells of humidity linked to global heating may exacerbate mental health conditions, with women and young people worst affected

More frequent spells of intense humidity caused by the climate crisis are more likely than heatwaves to be linked to increased rates of suicide, according to new research.

The study found that women and young people were particularly affected by levels of humidity, the intensity and frequency of which are increasing because of global heating.

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‘I don’t intend to let my son down twice’: the bereaved father trying to end suicide

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When 18-year-old Edward Mallen killed himself, his father blamed the NHS, society – and himself. He founded the Zero Suicide Alliance to try to make such deaths a thing of the past

Not long before Christmas in 2014, Steve Mallen began to worry about the eldest of his three children. Edward, who had just turned 18, was good at everything. A gifted pianist, a talented sportsman and a nurturing big brother, he had secured a place at the University of Cambridge.

Then Edward stopped playing the piano. He became withdrawn and began to eat less and lose sleep. On 22 January 2015, he went to see the family’s GP, near their home in a village outside Cambridge. He revealed that he had suicidal feelings and had begun to self-harm, something he felt too ashamed to share at home. He had no known history of mental health problems.

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Concern grows in Kenya after alarming rise in suicide cases

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Mental ill-health and ‘warped’ notions of masculinity among reasons mooted for rise of nearly 50% in a year

There is growing alarm in Kenya over a shocking rise in the number of suicides in the country.

Almost 500 people are reported to have killed themselves in the three months to June this year, more than the whole of 2020, according to the Kenyan police.

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Pentagon chief ‘deeply concerned’ by sharp rise in suicides among US troops

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Defense department promises improvements in quality of life and mental health help on army bases

The defense secretary, Lloyd Austin, has expressed concern about the alarming spike in suicides among US forces.

In 2020, 385 active-duty soldiers died by suicide, marking a steep increase from the 326 cases reported by the Pentagon in 2018.

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‘Drastic rise’ in Malawi’s suicide rate linked to Covid economic downturn

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Lack of specialist support and growing unemployment are factors in growing mental health crisis, doctors say

One Tuesday morning in March, 48-year-old farmer Lokoliyo Bwanali set off for his maize plot. He never came back. Neighbours discovered his body later in the small field where he had poisoned himself.

“The wife of the deceased said her late husband was under pressure from creditors and was failing to settle his debts,” said Edward Kabango, from Malawi’s Dedza district police department. “The deceased left his home without explaining to his family members where he was heading until he was later found lying dead in a field, a kilometre from his home.”

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Australians are yelling in grief and frustration – but will Scott Morrison act?

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The deficiencies in the mental health and aged care systems are distressing realities that need to be confronted

The facts on suicide in Australia, the Productivity Commission informs us, are stark. Every year, 3,000 people end their own lives, more than eight people every day. It is the leading cause of death for young adults, and suicide rates in Indigenous communities are more than double the rest of the community. This picture has been static for a decade.

Some people with mental illness are plagued with suicidal ideations, and for some that ends in tragedy, but as Scott Morrison’s suicide prevention adviser, Christine Morgan, told me earlier this year, a substantial proportion of people who take their lives in Australia never present to clinicians with depression or another illness.

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Suicide rates falling around the world, study says

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Researchers say the overall trend is down thanks to poverty reduction and better healthcare

Suicides have fallen globally by more than a third since 1990, according to a far-reaching analysis that highlights profound differences in the number of men and women taking their own lives.

In results published in the BMJ journal on Thursday, a study estimates that 817,000 people killed themselves in 2016 – a slight increase of 6.7% since 1990.

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