In the 1980s and 90s, Scotland was known for its alarmingly high suicide rate. But since 2000, suicide rates have fallen sharply. A study published in the online open access journal BMC Public Health found this reduction is associated with a significant drop in hangings as a means of suicide.

Dr Cameron Stark led the research team from the Department of Public Health, NHS Highland. The research team based the analysis on routinely collected information for the period 1980-2004 from the General Register Office for Scotland (GROS). The data showed a 42% reduction in suicide rates among 15-29 year old men, from 42.5/100,000 in 2000 to 24.5/100 000 in 2004, There were no significant changes in trend in any other male age group in the period reviewed.

The fall in suicide rate among young men may be the result of this particular cohort changing their preferred method of suicide, namely hanging, to less fatal self-harm methods such as poisoning.

“If younger age groups move away from hanging, then a reduction in death rates could occur with no actual change in levels of suicidal behaviour,” warns Dr Stark. “It is encouraging that deaths from other methods in young men have not increased, but we need to review the statistics carefully for non-fatalities before we can be really sure about a true decrease in self-harming behaviour, rather than just a change in method preference.”

Numerous suicide prevention policy initiatives have been implemented by the Scottish government, focussing on social exclusion and deprivation. Since 2001, the National Programme for Improving Mental Health and Wellbeing has launched ‘Choose Life’ (the Scottish suicide prevention strategy), the ‘See Me’ anti-stigma programme, ‘Breathing Space’ (a confidential telephone helpline targeted at young men), and the development of a recovery-oriented mental health programme, the Scottish Recovery Network.

“It is tempting to associate the lower suicide rate in younger men, and to an extent in younger women, with these initiatives,” says Stark, “For instance, ‘Choose Life’ has requested the media not to report the method of suicide in their reports, but the reduction in cases of hanging seems to pre-date this appeal. We need to do more work before a definite link between rates and initiatives can be drawn.”

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Notes to Editors

1. Reduction in young male suicide rates in Scotland
Cameron Stark, Diane Stockton and Rob Henderson
BMC Public Health (in press)

Please name the journal in any story you write. If you are writing for the web, please link to the article. All articles are available free of charge, according to BioMed Central’s open access policy.

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2. BMC Public Health is an open access journal publishing original peer-reviewed research articles in all aspects of epidemiology and public health medicine. BMC Public Health (ISSN 1471-2458) is indexed/tracked/covered by PubMed, MEDLINE, CAS, Scopus, EMBASE, Thomson Scientific (ISI) and Google Scholar.

3. BioMed Central is an independent online publishing house committed to providing immediate access without charge to the peer-reviewed biological and medical research it publishes. This commitment is based on the view that open access to research is essential to the rapid and efficient communication of science.

4. NHS Highland serves the largest and most sparsely populated part of the UK, with a mountainous terrain, rugged coastline and populated islands. The area covers 32,518 km², around 41% of Scotland. NHS Highland leads the way in meeting the challenges of providing efficient and effective health care services to a remote and rural region.

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