So, what do you need to know?
Emeritus Professor of Health Policy Research at University of Edinburgh and co-chair NSPLG Academic Advisory Group Steve Platt FAcSS helps us to understand some of the key information we’ve learnt from the data release about suicide in 2019.
National Records of Scotland today released information about the number of probable deaths by suicide in 2019.
It’s important to note that annual changes don’t always give the detail we need to understand trends. For that reason, we prefer to look at data over several years.
This enables us to see if trends are actually emerging.
Before we go on, however, let’s stress something that is more important than anything else.
Every death by suicide is a tragedy; someone gone before their time. We mourn the loss of every person who is gone, and stand with those left behind. Everything we do at NSPLG is about trying to prevent suicide.
Tell us about the long-term trend
After a downward trend from 2000, the suicide rate among males in Scotland has been on the rise over the past four years.
The overall (European age-standardised) suicide rate (EASR) has risen from 18.5 per 100,000 population in 2015 to 23.3 per 100,000 in 2019, and the highest rate since 2013.
When looking at suicide information, it is helpful to consider men and women separately.
What can we say about men?
We know that men continue to account for three-quarters of all deaths by suicide, a pattern that has been established for many decades now.
The highest rates among men continue to be found in the 35–44 age bracket (34.4 per 100,000) and those aged 45–54 (35.8 per 100,000).
It is in the youngest and oldest adult groups that the most marked increases in male suicide rates can be seen.
The rate among 15–24-year-old men (24.0 per 100,000) is the highest since 2007 and the rate among 25–34-year olds is the highest since 2013.
For older people, the rates among 65–74 and 75–84-year-old men (17.3 per 100,000 and 18.3 per 100,000), remain low, but are at their highest since 2008.
The result of these trends has been a narrowing of the differences in suicide rates between different age groups.
How does this compare to women?
The overall suicide rate among women was also on a downward trend from the early 2000s. It went from 9.1 per 100,000 in 2001 to 5.7 per 100,000 in 2015. This trend has now started to reverse.
There has been an increase in the rate during 2018 and 2019. It stands at 7.6 per 100,000 in 2019.
As for men, the highest rates among women are in the 35–45 (10.8 per 100,000) and 45–54 (14.0 per 100,000) age groups.
That’s fairly similar then?
No. The most notable, and concerning, change in female suicide rates can be seen among young adults aged 15–24.
In 2019, the rate in this age group was 10.7 per 100,000.
That’s highest rate for at least 40 years.
In 2015 there were 8 suicide deaths among women aged 15–24 years; in 2019 this number increased to 33.
What does this data mean?
We can summarise at this time (and bear in mind data takes time to analyse):
- The rate of suicide is rising over a four-year period
- 2019 data shows us that, while people in their middle years (35–54) remain the age group at highest risk of suicide, we are seeing increases in younger and older people
- We should be concerned about young people, in particular teenagers and young adult women
- The rate of suicide (women, 15–24) is now at its highest in at least 40 years and there has been a consistent increase in deaths by suicide over the last five years
In the weeks ahead, the data will be analysed forensically to look at all sort of different areas from more detailed breakdown on gender, location, ethnicity, and means.
Every piece of information we can glean will help us in developing the delivery of Scotland’s Suicide Prevention Plan.
Learn more about Scotland’s new public awareness campaign, United to Prevent Suicide, and join our new social movement at unitedtopreventsuicide.org.uk.
National Records of Scotland have released complete data which can be viewed here.
If you work in the media you are asked to follow protocols when it comes to reporting on suicide. Samaritans has a comprehensive guide.
