Claire Wood'Our rate is highest in UK… it's not hard to see we need help'

SCOTLAND has a higher suicide rate than the rest of the UK. In 2008, our suicide rate was the highest for six years. It's not hard to see we need help.

We have to be realistic. We can't expect to stop people killing themselves with a TV advert – but we could tell them about a phone line they can call for advice or suggest that talking to a friend might help.

Suicide can be triggered by all sorts of things. Having talked to heroin addicts and people with mental health problems, it's clear the despair that either can cause is terrifying. It can be impossible to see a way out.

An advert talking to someone in this context has to take account of the fact that it might not be easy to pick up the phone. It might not be easy "just" to tell a friend.

The Public Health Agency in Northern Ireland launched a crisis helpline two years ago and asked us to produce a TV campaign. Beautiful cinematography set to a (very kindly donated) soundtrack from REM, Everybody Hurts, demonstrated that the crisis line was there for anyone who felt they couldn't cope.

They received 400 calls in the first month. Facile to say that it saved 400 lives, but we hope it made a difference to some. Advertising wasn't the only answer. They needed all of the men and women that answered the phone.

But I do believe that if you're thinking bleak thoughts, you're thinking that nobody cares about you, and then an ad flashes across your screen that shows you an alternative, it might just change a few people's minds.

• Claire Wood is senior planner at The Leith Agency.