Here is the reality of what we are dealing with when it comes to suicide, facts:
- Suicide is the leading cause of death in the UK. Sadly, that rate has increased by 36% between 2000 and 2023.
- In 2022 suicide was responsible for 49476 deaths.
- It is estimated that over 13.2million people seriously think or consider suicide with 3.8million planned suicide attempts and 1.6million actual attempted suicides per year.
- More than 720000 people die of suicide each year and it is the 3rd leading cause of death amongst 15-29 year olds.
- 73% of global suicides occur in low and medium income countries.
The reasons for suicide are multifaceted. Many any influenced by social, cultural, biological, psychological and environmental factors that present across the course of life. Many people mistakenly believe ‘habitual self-harming’, such as cutting and low-level ligaturing, is somehow different to ‘genuine suicidality’ and do not take those behaviours seriously. In actuality, self-harm is a spectrum, with relatively mild behaviours at one end, and fatality at the other. The vast majority of successful suicides have almost always involved an escalation of less serious behaviours in the person’s history; and in some cases a person commits suicide accidentally (known as ‘misadventure’). It is vital that professionals and carers who work with vulnerable and susceptible groups take note.
As a company, we at Cove Care engage with a high profile of vulnerable groups that are more subjected or more likely to experience intrusive, self-harmful or suicidal thoughts. So as part of our specialist provisions we provide psychotherapy, clinical reviews and therapeutic engagement, supported and informed by experienced mental health nurses within the senior team, enabling us to limit access to the means of suicide such as:
Harmful substances, negative social influences, access to elicit content, selective interactions with media, the fostering a socio-emotional life skills in adolescence.
We would support this by promoting:
Early identification, limiting access, empowering and educating around the management and following up anyone who is affected by intrusive or suicidal thoughts or behaviours, supporting to build appropriate coping strategies to limit associated self-harm behaviours, along with normalising the communication around suicide and intrusive thoughts. We implement ‘safety plans’ that promote safe alternatives to and coping mechanisms for self-harmful thought and behaviour. We understand that young people have often become entrenched in destructive behaviours over many years, and facilitate reductions in risk in both the severity and the frequency of their behaviours, with staff support, until they are able to maintain their own safety.
When analysing situations, you need find the balance between good access to foundations such as friends, family and local groups. Good mental health also comes from regular exercise, sleep routines and a balanced diet.
The overall goal to get to as a society is to normalise the communication and understanding around suicide and to support each other in a mindful and empathic way to appropriately support those going through difficult times. At Cove Care, we have seen many success stories, such as young people coming to our provisions from long detentions in inpatient CAMHS units having been highly suicidal, to leaving our care as young adults as autonomous individuals. For any young person who might be reading this, who might be despondent and can see no way forward, we would urge you to seek any help available, such as through your school, GP or social worker, (NOTE – you can even call 111 now with a mental health emergency), with the knowledge that solutions do exist for you.
NHS 111
Call 111 – 24 hours every day
Samaritans – for everyone
Call 116 123
Email jo@samaritans.org
Campaign Against Living Miserably (CALM)
Call 0800 58 58 58 – 5pm to midnight every day
Visit the webchat page
Papyrus – prevention of young suicide HOPELINE247
Call 0800 068 41 41
Text 07860 039967
Email pat@papyrus-uk.org
Childline – for children and young people under 19
Call 0800 1111 – the number will not show up on your phone bill
SOS Silence of Suicide – for everyone
Call 0808 115 1505 – 8pm to midnight Monday to Friday, 4pm to midnight Saturday and Sunday
Email contact@sossilenceofsuicide.org
Young Minds – https://www.youngminds.org.uk
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