Suicide prevention

Suicide in Southwark - key facts

True or False? 

You don’t have to be a heart surgeon to be good at First Aid. You don’t have to be a psychiatrist to prevent a suicide.

Both true. Luckily.

• On average, a person dies every two hours in England as a result of suicide. It is the commonest cause of death in men under 35. It is the main cause of premature death in people with mental illness.
• On average, one suicide intimately affects at least six people. If a suicide takes place in a school, workplace or public place, it has an impact on hundreds of people. All this adds up to a long, long list of lost and damaged lives.

In Southwark, we believe that by working together across a range of organisations and community groups, we can use our heads, imaginations and feelings to help save lives.

What we know about suicide in Southwark

Our study of suicide in Southwark reveals important information that needs to be acted on. The broad picture is stark:

• Southwark consistently suffers from some of the highest suicide rates in London
• Suicide accounts for more than 20 per cent of the borough’s deaths among men aged 15-34

What kind of people kill themselves?

All kinds of people kill themselves - men, women, young, old, from different ethnic and class backgrounds. But the study, focusing on the years 1993-2003, shows that in Southwark some groups are particularly vulnerable to death through suicide:

• Those suffering from some form of psychiatric disorder. Almost 70 per cent of the people who took their own life had a psychiatric illness either noted by their GP or recorded by mental health services.
• Those who have tried to kill themselves before. Over half of the people had tried to kill themselves at least once before – but their GPs were often unaware of previous attempts. At least 30 per cent of people who killed themselves  had a history of deliberate self-harm.
• Those struggling with substance abuse. Half of the people who took their own life in Southwark had a problem with alcohol or ‘recreational’ drugs.
• The unemployed or those on sickness benefit. Twenty per cent of the people who killed themselves were unemployed, and thirty-six per cent were on sickness benefit.
• Those living in certain areas of the borough - in particular, in and around Elephant and Castle and off the Old Kent Road.

and why do they do it?

Suicide is rarely the response to a single stress in a person’s life. Instead, it is likely to be the outcome of a culmination of stressful factors or events. Outlined above are some of the factors (like substance abuse) most commonly found in the cases of people who died in Southwark. Others include:

• Serious physical illness or chronic ill health
• Recent significant loss (like loss of a job)
• Loss of a loved one
• Major difficulties in personal or work life
• Comparatively easy access to a method of committing suicide
• Affected or bereaved by suicide

The more factors of this kind are present for individuals, the higher the risk of suicide.

What we can all do to prevent suicide in Southwark

Some people believe that if someone wants to take their own life, there is nothing you can do to stop them. This is very rarely true. All too often, people kill themselves because they see this as ‘the only option’. As communities, as health and social care professionals, and as individuals, we can do a great deal to help people feel better about themselves, more in control, and less likely to try to end their problems by ending their lives.

As communities, for example, we need to press for, and try to create and sustain:

• Employment and training opportunities
• More accessible and appropriate mental and other health strategies
• Anti-discrimination strategies that make a real difference to vulnerable people
• Self-help and user-led initiatives
• Drop-in centres for young people
• Family and parenting groups

As health and social care professionals

we need to further develop our ability to identify, and respond to, people who may be at risk of suicide. There are real opportunities now to build up the knowledge, skills and confidence that are needed both to recognise risk factors and to make appropriate referrals, especially at the times when people are likely to be most vulnerable.

The strategy and action plan contained in Suicide in Southwark - A strategy for prevention shows how, working in partnership across agencies, we can take practical steps to:

• Enhance the mental health and well being of the population of the borough as a whole
• Reach those groups at high risk of suicide - and reach them at a time when they are likely to be most vulnerable
• Reduce access to the means of suicide.

As individuals, we are likely to find the following key principles useful:

• Be aware of common warning signs - for example, high-risk behaviour
• Show you care, and offer support
• Be willing to listen - allow the person to talk freely about how they are feeling
• Ask the question - asking someone about possible suicidal thoughts may be a relief for that person (talking about the subject does not put the option in people’s head)
• Remove any possible means of suicide
• Call for help - encourage the person to seek help