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The Office of National Statistics has released data on suicide rates in the UK in 2012.
Prof Jonathan Scourfield, Professor of Social Work, School of Social Sciences, Cardiff University, said:
“Although suicides in young people tend to be the most newsworthy, these figures show that this year again the highest suicide rate is in fact for men in mid-life. This is a stage of life where the dual pressures of work and family can be most intense. Men tend to be less able than women to cope with difficult life events such as the loss of a job or the ending of a relationship, perhaps because their sense of masculine honour is more threatened and because they are less used to getting emotional support from others. Samaritans, in their campaign, are highlighting the particular vulnerability of working class middle-aged men to suicide.
“We know that suicide rates tend to go up when there is a recession and that has been shown for the UK in recent years – the rate rose significantly in 2011 and it has remained at about the same level for 2012. There is some evidence that austerity measures make things worse – David Stuckler has shown this, by comparing Greece, whose suicide rates have risen sharply following austerity, with Iceland, which rejected austerity and as a result saw no increase in its suicide rate.”
Paul Bristow, Head of Policy, Mental Health Foundation, said:
“The new statistics released today show that suicide continues to be a major issue for society, and in particular male suicide rates, which are three times higher than female rates. Even given the complex nature of suicide with its history of risk factors and distressing events, the reasons why so many more men than women are taking their own lives are far from clear.
“Given the scale of the issue, it is disappointing that there is still far too little explanatory research to help us understand the causes and possible remedies. We urgently need to see a significant uplift in investment for research.
“We do know that men are far less likely to seek help for psychological difficulties and there are many theories about the various impacts of the changing role of men in society. But we urgently need to know more about why being male is itself a risk factor in suicide and to do more to help men, especially young men seek assistance rather than suffer in silence.
Cynthia Joyce, CEO at MQ: transforming mental health, said:
“It is important to talk about the report in the context of other recent publications, most especially concerning the increase in suicides among adult men that appear to coincide with the economic downturn. Barr et al (BMJ 2012) noted that as many as 300 additional deaths might be attributable to rising unemployment during the years 2008 – 2010. This tells us that a multidisciplinary approach, such as the Cross-Government Strategy to Save Lives is most likely to have an impact upon suicide in our society.
“It is important to know that while suicide prevention measures such as barriers and surveillance are effective, we still don’t know enough about the causes and moderating factors associated with suicide to truly combat this issue. Investigators are looking more closely for ways to identify the behaviours that might help us reliably identify people at higher risk, an important step toward treatment interventions.
“In the US, a new public/private partnership has been announced to support research to reduce the number of suicides in the US by 20% by 2020 (http://actionallianceforsuicideprevention.org). The Department of Health’s Policy Research Programme is investing £1.5M in research as a part of the Cross-Government Strategy, but that is just a pittance of the funding needed to advance our understanding and treatment.”