Quebec men more likely to commit suicide than women
Rate is especially high among baby boomers, statistics reveal. More..
Invisible Suicides
StatsCan recently reported on a 10% increase in suicides. But StatsCan persists in ignoring the group of Canadians at greatest risk for suicide, as do the media and professional reports.
Suicide is a microcosm for those most under stress and most at risk of unresolved crisis in society. Suicides may logically be categorized as 100% citizens of Canada, and then as 79% male. The most critical measure of depression - suicide - is counted overwhelmingly in male corpses. For over 23 years widespread media and professional attention concentrated on 12,500 AIDS deaths, compared to little concern with 92,000 suicides. More ..
CYF project halves child suicide rate
The New Zealand Herald, BY LEAH HAINES, October 10, 2004
A three-year project by welfare and health agencies has halved the rate of suicide among some of the country's most at-risk children.
Researchers say the project has the potential to put a massive dent in New Zealand's youth suicide rate - currently the highest in the developed world.
The results of the Towards Well Being suicide monitoring project were due to be presented to an international conference on youth suicide this weekend and are expected to gain global attention. More..
Child and Teen Suicides
Youth Suicides in Canada and elsewhere
Youth Suicide report - Canadian Task Force on Preventive Health Care
Prevention of Suicide
Prepared by Jane E. McNamee, MA, Research Associate, Department of Psychiatry, Chedoke McMaster Hospitals and David R. Offord, MD, FRCPC, Professor of Psychiatry, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario
Objective
To make recommendations regarding routine evaluation of suicide risk in individuals from high-risk groups, and interventions to prevent suicide in these individuals. This updates a 1990 report.
Burden of Suffering
Suicide has accounted
for about 2% of annual deaths in Canada since the late 1970s.
Eighty percent of all suicides reported in 1991 involved
men. The male:female ratio for suicide risk was 3.8:1. In both males and females,
the greatest increase between 1960 and 1991 occurred in
the 15-to-19-year age group, with a four-and-a-half-fold
increase for males, and a three-fold increase for females.
Read the report: Canadian Task Force on Preventive Care 2003
From the website of:
The Canadian Mental Health Association / L'Association Canadienne Pour La Sant Mentale
Reflections on Youth Suicide
Adolescence is a time of dramatic change. The journey from child to adult can be complex and challenging. Young people often feel tremendous pressure to succeed at school, at home and in social groups. At the same time, they may lack the life experience that lets them know that difficult situations will not last forever. Mental health problems commonly associated with adults, such as depression, also affect young people. Any one of these factors, or a combination, may become such a source of pain that they seek relief in suicide. Suicide is the second leading cause of death among young people after motor vehicle accidents. Yet people are often reluctant to discuss it. This is partly due to the stigma, guilt or shame that surrounds suicide. People are often uncomfortable discussing it. Unfortunately, this tradition of silence perpetuates harmful myths and attitudes. It can also prevent people from talking openly about the pain they feel or the help they need.
Communication is the first essential step in assisting youths at risk of suicide. Learning the facts about suicide can help build a parent's confidence in discussing a difficult subject.
SOME MYTHS ABOUT SUICIDE
Myth: Young people rarely think about suicide.
Reality: Teens and suicide are more closely linked
than adults might expect. In a survey of 15,000 grade 7
to 12 students in British Columbia, 34% knew of someone
who had attempted or died by suicide; 16% had seriously
considered suicide; 14% had made a suicide plan; 7% had
made an attempt and 2% had required medical attention due
to an attempt.
Myth: Talking about suicide will give a young
person the idea, or permission, to consider suicide as a
solution to their problems.
Reality: Talking calmly about suicide, without showing
fear or making judgments, can bring relief to someone who
is feeling terribly isolated. A willingness to listen shows
sincere concern; encouraging someone to speak about their
suicidal feelings can reduce the risk of an attempt.
Myth: Suicide is sudden and unpredictable.
Reality: Suicide is most often a process, not an
event. Eight out of ten people who die by suicide gave some,
or even many, indications of their intentions.
Myth: Suicidal youth are only seeking attention
or trying to manipulate others.
Reality: Efforts to manipulate or grab attention
are always a cause for concern. It is difficult to determine
if a youth is at risk of suicide All suicide threats must
be taken seriously.
Myth: Suicidal people are determined to die.
Reality: Suicidal youth are in pain. They don't necessarily
want to die; they want their pain to end. If their ability
to cope is stretched to the limit, or if problems occur
together with a mental illness, it can seem that death is
the only way to make the pain stop.
Myth: A suicidal person will always be at risk.
Reality: Most people feel suicidal at some time in their lives. The overwhelming desire to escape from pain can be relieved when the problem or pressure is relieved. Learning effective coping techniques to deal with stressful situations can help.
WHO IS AT RISK
In Canada, suicide is the second highest cause of death for youth aged 10-24. Each year, on average, 294 youths die from suicide. Many more attempt suicide. Aboriginal teens and gay and lesbian teens may be at particularly high risk, depending on the community they live in and their own self esteem.
Suicide is a complex process. The cause can seldom be attributed to one single factor, such as the death by suicide of a rock star or family break-up. It may be a routine event or an overwhelming one that overloads a vulnerable youth's coping mechanisms. As well, new research suggests that there may be a genetic link to suicide. A family history of suicidal behaviour should be taken into account, if for no other reason than the young person may have been affected by this behaviour in the past.
Suicidal youth rarely make a direct plea for help. But most will exhibit warning signs. Here are some of these signs:
- Sudden change in behaviour (positive or negative)
- Apathy, withdrawal, change in eating patterns
- Unusual preoccupation with death or dying
- Giving away valued personal possessions
- Signs of depression; moodiness, hopelessness
- One or more previous suicide attempts
- Recent attempt or death by suicide by a friend or a family member
TALKING ABOUT SUICIDE
Warning signs are an invitation to communicate. A direct, straightforward response is most effective. Ask your child if he or she is contemplating suicide; no matter what you hear, try not to be judgmental, shocked or angry. Do not communicate your personal attitudes about suicide; instead, offer support and reassurance that suicidal feelings do not last forever. Seek the assistance of a trained professional as soon as possible.
Your child's school may have protocols to follow in the
case of a suicide attempt or death by suicide. It is important
that the suicide is not romanticised or glamourised. Instead,
teachers are encouraged to discuss with students the characteristics
and events that can lead to suicide, and to explore with
them all the other options that exist. But school should
not be the only source of help. For parents, an attempted
suicide or death by suicide in their child's circle of friends
presents an opportunity to explore their child's stress
levels and methods of coping. Dramatic statements emphasising
the parent's horror and fear "of suicide are best avoided.
It is more effective to express a willingness to talk and
to be supportive, no matter what may be happening in the
child's life
Youth Suicide in the United States
Explaining the Rise in Youth Suicide by David M. Cutler, Edward L. Glaeser, and Karen E. Norberg of Harvard Institute of Economic Research, Discussion Paper Number 1917, March 2001. - An interesting paper
Abstract:
Suicide rates among youths aged 15-24 have tripled in the
past half-century, even as rates for adults and the
elderly have declined. And for every youth
suicide completion, there are nearly 400 suicide attempts.
This paper examines the dynamics of youth suicide attempts
and completions, and reaches three conclusions. First, we
suggest that many suicide attempts by youths can be viewed
as a strategic action on the part of the youth to resolve
conflicts within oneself or with others. Youths have little
direct economic or familial power, and in such a situation,
self-injury can be used to signal distress or to encourage
a response by others. Second, we present evidence for contagion
effects. Youths who have a friend or family members who
attempts or commits suicide are more likely to attempt or
commit suicide themselves. Finally, we show that to the
extent we can explain
the rise in youth suicide over time, the most important
explanatory variable is the increased share of youths living
in homes with a divorced parent. The divorce rate
is more important for suicides than either the share of
children living with step-parents or the share of female-headed
households
(713 kb)
Children from single-mothers households (compared to children of two parent households) are five times more likely to commit suicide.
Youth Suicide in the U.K.
Rates are highest among young men
The London Times, UK, by STEWART TENDLER, November 09, 2004
SUICIDES accounted for 13 per cent of the 27,100 inquest verdicts in England and Wales last year, with 2,511 men killing themselves compared with 744 women.
The highest ever suicide numbers occurred around 1931, at the start of the Depression, when rates for the older age groups were higher than those of the youngest groups. However, since the end of the 1950s there has been a marked increase in suicide death rates in people aged 15 to 24 and a sharp decline in those over 44.
Last year's total figures were the second lowest since 1988, and since the 1990s the number has always remained below 4,000. Young men are the most likely to kill themselves, according to figures from the Office for National Statistics. Young women aged 15-44 had the lowest suicide rate between 1979 and 2001. More ..
'Mood' enzyme linked to suicide
BBC, UK, July 5, 2004
Protein kinase C activity was lower in teens who committed suicide. The activity of a brain enzyme thought to affect mood may be reduced in teens who commit suicide, according to US researchers.
Dr Ghanshyam Pandey and colleagues at the University of Illinois at Chicago examined the brains of 34 teenagers who had died - 17 by suicide.
Protein kinase C (PKC) activity levels were much lower in the suicide victims' brains.
The findings are reported in Archives of General Psychiatry. More ..
Reasons Why Young Men Commit Suicide
By John von Radowitz, Science Correspondent, PA News, September 28, 2003
Study: Young white men face higher suicide risk
Legal issues and relationship problems were main reasons for those taking their lives.
The Indianapolis Star, Staff Report, November 23, 2002
Invisible Suicides
The Ottawa Citizen, by Jeffrey Asher, May 16, 2002
Suicide study surprises
The Globe and Mail, by Dawn Walton, November 29, 2001 Print Edition, Page A10
Males in their mid-forties most likely to take their lives, Ontario group finds
Health boards publish suicide study
Radio Telefs ireann (RT) is the Irish Public Service Broadcasting Organisation, November 22, 2001
Children not immune to deadly depression
Doctors now know even the very young can be suicidal
Ottawa Citizen, Sharon Kirkey, June 13, 2000
Quebec men more likely to commit suicide than women
Rate is especially high among baby boomers, statistics reveal
The National Post, The Gazette, Montreal, Lynn Moore,
Monday, February 15, 1999
Links
Click to go
to our links page click here
