Scots suicide rates higher than England

NATIONAL suicide rate figures in Scotland are higher than those in England, and the rate of deaths among younger adult Scots is even higher, according to Edinburgh researchers.

Their study showed the suicide rate in Scotland between 2000 and 2006 was 79 per cent higher than in England. For people aged 15 years and over in Scotland, the suicide rate was 19.8 per 100,000 population – compared with 11 per 100,000 in England. For Scots aged 15 to 44 the suicide rate was twice as high as that in England.

The study by Edinburgh and Manchester universities cited a high incidence of poor mental health and drug and alcohol abuse in Scotland, along with socio-economic deprivation and social breakdown, as reasons why the suicide rate is higher north of the Border.

Co-lead author, Professor Stephen Platt, of Edinburgh University’s Centre for Population Health Sciences, said: “There was a marked fall in the suicide rate in Scotland, about 14 per cent, over the decade from 2000, coinciding with the implementation of an intensive suicide prevention strategy – Choose Life.”