Scottish men twice as likely to take their own lives

THE shocking scale of Scotland’s struggle with suicide has been laid bare in a new report which reveals men north of the Border are almost twice as likely to take their own life than those living in England and Wales.

The study is expected to lead to calls for more support for people feeling isolated, depressed and vulnerable.

Over the course of the last two decades the rate of suicide among Scottish men has risen, while south of the Border it has fallen. The study shows that in Scotland the male suicide rate is 31 per 100,000, against a rate of 17 per 100,000 south of the Border.

Scottish women – while not as prone to suicide as men – are also more likely to take their own lives than those in England and Wales, the study found.

And while suicides started to fall among all groups during the last decade, the picture has worsened since 2008 and the start of the economic crisis.

The research was carried out by the universities of Manchester and Edinburgh and the Medical Research Council’s Social and Public Health Sciences Unit in Glasgow. It was funded by the Chief Scientist Office of the Scottish Government and published online by the British Journal of Psychiatry.

The study, “Trends in national suicide rates for Scotland and for England & Wales”, is the latest to paint a disturbing picture of Scotland’s mental health.

Last year a survey revealed more than a quarter of young Scots were so depressed they had contemplated suicide.

Others turned to drink or drugs in the face of serial rejection and bleak prospects, according to The Future You, an online mentoring service.

Again, the figures in Scotland were worse than England and Wales, with 28 per cent contemplating taking their own life north of the Border, compared to 25 in the south, the survey found.

The Scottish Association for Mental Health (SAMH) has estimated that poor mental health is now costing Scotland more than £10 billion a year, by keeping people out of work, putting pressure on the NHS, and also hitting police, housing and other services.

“There has been a marked increase in young adult male suicide across Great Britain since the late 1960s, particularly in Scotland,” the latest study said.

“Further analysis by ten-year age strata revealed that the rise in male suicide was particularly pronounced among those aged 15 to 34 years. Suicide among young Scottish women also rose overall between 1968 and 2008, but at a much slower rate than for Scottish men.”

“Socioeconomic deprivation and unemployment have previously been shown to be associated with increases in suicide risks, and variations in these factors may therefore have contributed to the differences in suicide rates [between Scotland and England].”

It added: “Heavy drinking has been shown to increase risk of suicide, irrespective of other psychiatric disorders.

“It is, therefore, possible that any between-country variations in the patterns of alcohol consumption may have contributed to the differentials in suicide risks. Further investigation is needed to determine the importance of these social and behavioural factors, and why they seem to have a particularly strong impact on suicide risk among young Scottish men.”

Professor Stephen Platt, of the Centre for Population Health Sciences at Edinburgh University, which contributed to the study, agreed that tackling Scotland’s problem with alcohol could help lower suicide rates.

“Reducing alcohol consumption should lead to a reduction in suicides,” he said.

“Minimum pricing could be a preventative measure. It’s not being sold as that, but potentially it would be.

“Anything that reduces alcohol consumption does not just have an effect on violence, antisocial behaviour and lost work hours, but it will also help decrease the risk of fatal and non-fatal suicide attempts.”

Margaret Watt, chairwoman of the Scotland Patients Association, warned more must be done to support people who are struggling.

“People feel they’re not being listened to,” she said.

“We had a boy whose sister called us to say he was contemplating suicide and had tried to seek help but felt he had been turned away.

“I think they’re forgotten people in some ways and we need to do more to reach out to them.”

The study broke the last 50 years down to three distinct phases, the first ending in 1968, when suicide rates in Scotland overtook England and Wales, for both men and women, for the first time.

Between 1968 and the start of the third phase in 1992, suicide rates rose among British men and, in general, dropped among women, and there was not a huge difference between north and south of the Border.

However, the last 20 years have seen a pronounced north- south divide open up.

Suicide rates among Scottish men did drop sharply in the first half of the last decade, but has since started to climb again.

Prof Platt said: “The figures are up and down but there was an increase among men in England and Wales in 2008, after a decade of decline, which could be linked to the beginning of the economic crisis.

“There is plenty of research linking economic downturn to suicide and it would be very surprising if there was not some adverse effects.”

A Samaritans spokeswoman said: “It would appear that national strategies and services are failing to reach and engage men, which is why Samaritans launched a campaign in late 2010 to target working class men who are the most at risk.”