Suicide Facts
Suicide is not chosen; it happens when pain exceeds resources for coping with pain

Some Facts About Suicide

International

Suicide has ranked among the top ten causes of death in western countries for many years. It is among the three leading causes of death among those aged 15-44 years. In the last 45 years suicide rates have increased by 60% WorldWide. WHO estimates that nearly 1 million people will die by suicide each year.

Australia

In 2003, 2,320 people died as a result of suicide. this is 1.9% of all registered deaths. In Victoria in 2003, 528 deaths were registered as suicide.

While publicity tends to focus on youth suicide, the age group with the highest rate of suicide is 25-34 followed by the 35-44 age group.

Suicide is the leading cause of death among young people under the age of 30.

As the second point above indicates, men are 4 times more likely to suicide than women and they usually use more violent means to end their own lives.

Compared with other countries, Australia has especially high rates in males aged 15-24 years of age. Rates for males of other ages and females of all ages are similar to those overseas.

Currently, more males die by suicide than in motor vehicle accidents.

While Australia as a whole has one of the highest suicide rates in the western world, particularly among young males, there are interstate variations. For 2001, the rates of suicide were highest in Northern Territory, Western Australia and the ACT. In 2001, Victoria's rate of suicide was the lowest of all the states and territories.

Urban/Rural Differences

Suicide rates, especially for young adult males, are particularly high in rural areas. Analysis of data for Victoria over the 1990s reveals variations in the rates of suicide between metropolitan and rural areas, and differences within rural areas between provincial centres and smaller country towns. The data indicate rural Victoria is over represented in youth suicide statistics, and has rates for total suicide that are generally higher than metropolitan areas.

Major Risk Factors

Although suicide is a complex human behaviour that cannot easily be predicted, a range of factors has been shown to contribute to it. From all the evidence the conclusion is that there is no single reason to explain why a person ends their life. There are complex, multiple factors involved in suicide and suicidal behaviour.

Research undertaken by the Centre for Adolescent Health and others has demonstrated three factors in particular that stand out as antecedents of suicide in the young. They are:

Prior attempt or deliberate, severe self-harm

A past history of attempted suicide has been shown to be a strong predictor of future death by suicide. While prior suicide attempts must be seen as distinct from self-harming behaviour, there is evidence to show young people engaging in severe self harm are also at higher risk of suicide.

Mental Illness

Mental illness, in its broadest sense, includes emotional, psychological and behavioural disorders of which depression is the most common. There is considerable evidence that risk for suicide among those with a history of mental illness is much greater than for the general population. Mood disorders have consistently been found to be associated with suicidal ideation, attempts, and completed suicide.

Drug & alcohol abuse

Many studies have found higher rates of suicide among alcoholics and drug abusers. Many of the physiological, psychological and social effects of severe alcohol abuse (relationship breakdown, disruption of social ties, impairment of work performance and coping skills, lowering of normal restraints on behaviour, increased impulsiveness and depression) would reasonably be expected to increase the likelihood of suicidal behaviour.

Social Factors

A number of reports over the past three or four decades have pointed to the increase in adverse social conditions such as unemployment, economic hardship and family discord and conflict. International studies indicate societies, communities and all social groups subject to increasing economic stability and unemployment, breakdown of traditional or primary family group structures, greater inter-generational pressures, domestic and interpersonal violence, criminal behaviour and secularisation increase their risk of suicide mortality. The exact nature of the association between each of these conditions and suicide mortality remains unclear. The pressures of the environment can have a significant impact on vulnerability to suicide.

Precipitating Events

Precipitating events for suicide may reflect severe conflict with parents, spouse or partner; episodes of family and domestic violence; divorce of loss of a significant relationship; serious illness in the family; loss of a family member through death or separation, or the anniversary of one of these kinds of events. Precipitating events are most often characterised by loss or interpersonal conflict, especially when linked to poorly developed coping or conflict resolution skills.

Particularly after suicide...

Feel embarrassed or ashamed and hesitate to tell people the truth for fear of being judged. It may feel as though the family has failed or is blemished in some way.

Feel guilty about not being able to prevent the death.

Lose confidence in their ability to read signals of distress.

Feel as if they are lacking in some way because the person who died did not ask them for help.

Feel afraid of the intensity of their own response, the desire to die as well, and a profound loss of meaning and purpose to life.

Feel rejected, abandoned, or inadequate because the person 'chose' to die and leave them.

Feel angry that the person has 'chosen' to leave them.

Repeatedly ask themselves why this happened.

("Coping with grief after suicide", NSW Health, 1999.) Reference:Jesuit Social Services-Support after suicide

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