The UK’s main growth area continues to be SUICIDE
The Office for National Statistics has released the latest figures on suicide, which show that the proportion of people taking their own lives has grown faster than the UK economy.
The statistics cover the calendar year 2013, when the economy grew by 1.7 per cent – but suicides increased by more than double that amount – four per cent. This writer has seen unconfirmed estimates that suggest a rise of 12-13 per cent since the Coalition Government took office in 2010 – that’s up by one-eighth.
The male suicide rate in 2013 was the highest since 2001, at 19 per 100,000 members of the population. This was almost four times higher than the female rate (5.1 per 100,000), which has stayed constant.
As Vox Political reported back in 2012, suicide continues to be the most reliable indicator of the UK’s true economic activity: The highest suicide rate among the English regions was in North East England, at 13.8 deaths per 100,000 population, while London had the lowest at 7.9 per 100,000. The Northeast has been one of the areas hardest-hit by the banker-engineered recession and Tory-engineered cuts (if not the hardest-hit altogether); London has benefited the most from government investment.
And the highest suicide rate by broad age group was among men aged 45-59 (25.1 deaths per 100,000). This is the group least likely to return to work after losing a job. It is also the group containing the most self-employed people, after the dire state of the economy made it impractical for them to retire.
Some naysayers may try to point out that the number of suicides is very small – 6,233 during 2013. They should be asking themselves: In a country where the government and its mass media are continually telling us that everything is going swimmingly, why are any suicides taking place at all?
Is it perhaps because of the attitude shown to the less-fortunate – by, for example, people on David Cameron’s own Facebook page. When a commenter wrote that they were considering suicide after being wrongly sanctioned, the response – and remember, this is on the prime minister’s own Facebook page – was “Well get on with it, then.”
Poverty is rising, suicide is rising, and they tell you all is well in Cameron’s corrupt country.
He is to blame for this.
The sooner he and his cronies are gone, the better.
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Shocking and Disgraceful x
Yes. It’s a shame hardly anybody will read it; the blog’s on a downturn at the moment after that spectacular high point at the end of January.
Strange how these things seem to go in cycles. People seem to latch onto you for a short while, then lose interest. Then they come back – not when you’ve done a really good piece but because they feel like seeing how you’re getting on. It makes it difficult to work out how well you’re doing on a day-to-day basis.
It is noteworthy that the below Daily Mail story has a unique spin and does not mention either the Government’s austerity measures, the draconian welfare reforms, the state of the economy, or pervasive low wages.
Rise of middle-aged suicide in men: 45 to 59 year olds most likely to take their own lives with ‘heavy drinking, self-harm and a refusal to seek help’ often to blame | Daily Mail Online http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2959970/Rise-middle-aged-suicide-men-45-59-year-olds-likely-lives-heavy-drinking-self-harm-refusal-seek-help-blame.html
Male depression is markedly different from female depression. We associate female symptoms with depression but males symptoms are unrecognised by most as they don’t fit our perception, including the sufferer. Men may become workaholic, drinking heavier/self medicating, aggressive, excessive risk taking and eventually harming themselves and a tendency for more violent and successful forms of suicide. Regardless of politics we must talk about this more, men simply don’t know they are depressed.
I’ve read it and shared it on Facebook and Twitter, hopefully the headline will pull them in!
The truth about the suicide rate is easily hidden. A death where the person leaves no indication of their intention to kill themselves can be, and is routinely recorded as as accidental, open or missadventure. These verdicts include hanging, they may have been practacing erotic asphixiaton. Drugs they the may have become confused about dosages. Falling from a hight they may have been looking for a better view from the bridge they fell from. As coroners are or have been legaly trained and seem to move in the same socal class as our so called political class its no wonder that the true rate is obscured. The DWP certainly are in denial about the preventive death or attempted death rate He starved to death, whithout leaving a note therefore it must have been accidental.
Tommaz jay
Still listen to what your saying but supprised that more are not listening.
Looking at the Scottish suicide rate it is 2% higher (all ages, both sexes) although it has dropped dramatically in the last ten years. Is this a difference in treatment? Is it lifestyle? Worth looking at.
Is it a left-wing government in Holyrood, in charge of the health service (and social care)?
This is an interesting comparison – but takes a very important issue, suicide and presents it in a very unhelpful way. Praise for giving the issue much-needed coverage, however take care as the implication is that correlation is causation. Within any research, mental health or otherwise this is simply not a valid conclusion. So it is not statistically significant to conclude that political decisions are causing an increased suicide rate. Instead I fear that the important and serious issue of suicide is being treated more as a party-political stunt here, which as a professional working with suicidal people on a daily basis, I can assure you has a much wider and more subtle range of causes than your article suggests. Please ensure balanced and accurate use of statistics – or don’t report.
Are you denying the scientific evidence the right-wing governments increase suicide rates? http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn2817-rightwing-governments-increase-suicide-rates.html#.VOfSjGdyYdU
I’m sorry you disagree with what the article is saying, and I’d be interested to see you arguing a different side to it, but the evidence I’ve seen suggests that it is statistically significant, and political decisions are causing an increased suicide rate. There’s no party political stunt, as you call it – just evidence in support of a statement.
Suicide rate of farmers in India went up during last terms of Congress Party. So left or right, not sure of its effect but a rapid decline or being left out of progress certainly increases hopelessness – and if government says so what – then no one seems to care and suicides among men increase worldwide
“The mail suicide rate in 2013 was the highest”
It might not be all bad news, if only you could add ‘Daily’ in there somewhere.
Different spelling: ‘male’
It was a hint at your typo!
My word – I must have been unwell lately!
I had taken the typo to be yours; it’s so unlike me to make such a mistake. My apologies.