Death by Suicide Decreases

Less Australians are dying by suicide according to a recent report, which showed 2,866 people took their lives in 2016 compared to 3,027 in 2015.

The Causes of Death report from the Australian Bureau of Statistics showed suicide rates decreased from 12.7 to 11.7 per 100,000 Australians with an average of 7.9 deaths by suicide per day. Of those deaths 2,151 were males at a rate of 17.9 per 100,000 and 715 were female at 5.9 per 100,000 with suicide deaths down across all states except Tasmania.

Suicide deaths accounted for over one-third of deaths (35.4 per cent) among people between 15-24 years of age.

SANE Australia chief executive officer Jack Heath said the figures were no cause for celebration.

“The number of suicide deaths is simply unacceptable. It’s critical for the mental health and suicide prevention sectors to come together in a coordinated way so those living with mental illness have easy access to appropriate services and support.

“We still have so much work to do, including reducing stigma and improving post-discharge processes for people who have attempted suicide.”

A 2014 meta-review Risks of all-cause and suicide mortality in mental disorders showed those living with complex mental illness were between 10 and 45 times more likely to take than own lives than the general population.

“People living with schizophrenia are 13 times more at risk, those living with bipolar disorder are 17 times, major depressive disorder 20 times, anorexia 31 times and for Australians with borderline personality disorder, the risk of suicide is 45 times higher,” Mr Heath said.

“We also need to be looking at increasing expenditure for those living in rural and regional Australia where suicide rates have been twice as high than in capital cities, yet the expenditure in services per head is half as much.”

Mr Heath said he welcomed the state government’s commitment to stigma as part of the Fifth National Mental Health Plan and additional investment in mental health.

Anyone looking for information, support and guidance from mental health professionals can phone SANE on 1800 187 263 or email [email protected] from 10am-10pm.