Suicide prevention
Suicide affects all age groups and communities. In fact, few people escape being touched by the devastating effects of suicidal behaviour at some time during their lives. Its emotional, social and practical repercussions are felt by family members, friends, neighbours, colleagues and people working in a wide range of services and agencies.
Suicide in Scotland
Scotland's suicide rate is much higher than that for the UK as a whole. The rate of increase in suicide in Scotland over recent decades has been among the highest rates in Europe.
The suicide rate among young men is particularly high. The number of young people who are treated for self-harm, particularly girls in their early teens, also gives cause for concern.
Helping you to help
Health promoting schools need to recognise the role that they can play in raising confidence and self-esteem and providing a safe environment – so that problems causing suicide and self-harm are addressed.
There are organisations that will help you to give young people the support that they need.
- The Choose Life initiative, which helps to prevent suicide in Scotland, has identified children and young people, especially looked-after children, as a target group. Many of the 32 Choose Life local programmes involve school projects: contact your local Choose Life coordinator for details.
- The Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training (ASIST) workshop is designed to help all caregivers – that is, all those in positions of trust – to become more ready, willing and able to help people at risk. Suicide can be prevented through the actions of people who are prepared. The workshop is suitable for mental health professionals, nurses, physicians, teachers, counsellors, youth workers, police and correctional staff, school support staff, clergy and community volunteers. For further details see below.
Useful links
Choose Life
Information about local Choose Life coordinators, local programmes and a searchable toolkit listing a range of resources to support suicide prevention work.
Living Works
Delivers a comprehensive, coordinated and integrated approach to preventing suicide that involves the entire community and includes the ASIST workshop.
Breathing Space Scotland
Breathing Space Scotland provides a free confidential phone line (tel: 0800 83 85 87) for young people experiencing problems or feeling down; the website contains advice and information on support services.
Samaritans
Website for the 24-hour helpline service (tel: 08457 90 90 90), with the option of e-mailing your worries.
Choose Life ASIST page
This page includes information on ASIST workshops in Scotland.
Useful resources
'Don't Die of Embarrassment' is a video teaching pack on suicide, for use in secondary schools. The video was produced in Liverpool and is available from Papyrus (tel: 01706 214449).
'After a Suicide', produced by the Scottish Association for Mental Health, is a useful reference booklet for schools (tel: 0141 568 7000).
