| Suicide Facts |
Suicide rates vary from year to year, but what else can we learn about suicide?
Suicide in Scotland
In 2007, a National Research Study on suicide in Scotland was published by the Scottish Government. The study looked at deaths over the sixteen years between 1989 and 2002 that were definitely suicide, and also deaths that were ‘undetermined' but were probably suicide. During that period there were 13,185 deaths in Scotland that were probably suicide. Most of these deaths (74%) were men, with 26% of them women. In recent years annual deaths have fallen, however the overall trend over the sixteen years was increasing for men, and roughly stable for women.
The main findings were:
 |
Across Scotland between 1989 and 2002 the overall suicide rate for men increased by 22% |
| |
Across Scotland between 1989 and 2002 the overall suicide rate for women increased by 6% |
| |
More people (men and women) committed suicide in the sixteen years before 2002 in Glasgow City, West Dunbartonshire, Highland, Western Isles, Dundee City and Argyll & Bute than in other areas of Scotland |
| |
The number of people committing suicide in Scotland does not vary with the time of year |
| |
The number of men committing suicide over the period was about three times higher than the number of women |
| |
In remote and rural areas men are more vulnerable to suicide than women |
| |
Older Scottish men are less likely to commit suicide than young men |
| |
The highest rate of suicide in men occurs in the 25-34 age group |
| |
Scottish women between 25 and 54 are more likely to commit suicide than women outside of this age group |
| |
The most common method that men use to commit suicide is hanging, women are most likely to self-poison. Drowning is more common in Highland and the Western Isles, especially in men |
| |
The number of people choosing hanging as a suicide method has increased over the sixteen years, and gassing (car exhaust poisoning) has decreased |
| |
Being a deprived person, wherever you live, makes it more likely that you will commit suicide than being a less deprived person, but people who live in deprived areas are increasingly more at risk of suicide than people in less deprived areas |
| |
Across the health boards, the greatest proportion of male suicides happened in Western Isles and Highland |
Suicide and Mental Health
Most people with even serious mental health problems find ways to adapt and live normal lives. There is a lot of strong evidence however, that people with mental health problems, particularly depression, are more vulnerable to suicide. These problems include anxiety, depression, bi-polar disorder (manic depression) and schizophrenia. Research on this has come up with anything from 28% - 98% of those completing suicide having a mental illness at the time, but whatever the figure, we know that the risk is definitely increased. If the person is receiving treatment or is on the right prescribed drugs to help their condition, the risk goes down.
The information on this page was sourced from:
Information Factsheet on Suicide from http://www.mind.org.uk/
LIFE - Living Is For Everyone (2000). A framework for prevention of suicide and self-harm in Australia. Learnings about Suicide. Publications Production Unit (Public Affairs, Parliamentary and Access Branch). Commonwealth Department of Health and Aged Care.
Platt. S., Crombie. I., Feng. Z., & Exeter. D. (2007) The Epidemiology of Suicide in Scotland 1989-2004: An examination of temporal trends and risk factors at national and local levels. Scottish Executive Social Research
