“I never expected him to be depressed”, 28-year-old Scot Carmen recalled his teenager acquaintance Mikey who jumped off Kessock Bridge in Inverness and took his life nine years ago at the age of 23. “He’s such a popular boy in school”, Carmen remembered. Indeed, there are several people he knew of committed suicides at a young age in Scotland.
Scotland has consistently had a higher suicide rate in the UK. Since 2015, the gap between Scotland and the rest of the countries has widened even further, with 14 suicides per 100,000 persons as of 2022, compared to England and Wales with 10.7 and Northern Ireland with 10.6 (see Figure 1).
According to a research in 2012, Scotland’s suicide rate was 79% higher than that of England with the young Scots aged 15 to 44 facing twice the risk of suicide compared to their English counterparts.
With the severe situation, we can’t help but ask: what happened?
Who commits suicide in Scotland?
The profiling of people committing suicide can be challenging. Anyone might experience vulnerability at some point in life, regardless of their backgrounds, and factors leading to suicides are also personal and multifaceted. However, from the suicide statistics in Scotland in the past few decades, we can still outline the group of people who are most likely to commit suicides, and the corresponding changes over the years.
First, and not surprisingly, more men than women committed suicides. From 2002 to 2022, the average number of men taking their lives almost tripled that of women (see Figure 2). One important reason, listed in an article by BBC, is the difference between the two sexes in terms of communication, among others. While women are usually more willing to share their problems and being expressive, men are taught to be stoic and strong, which hold them back from looking for help from the outside world during struggles, a move often considered “weak” in the society.
In addition to the difference in sex, age also matters. People aged 25 to 44, who are often navigating pressures from education, career and relationships, are most likely to be at risk of suicide, especially in comparison with the elderly over 65 (see Figure 3). Notably, the sex ration is also the highest among that age group.
Apart from sex and age,social deprivation is an important factor as well. According to the Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation (SIMD), which identifies areas in Scotland with concentrations of deprivation based on measurements in income, employment, education, housing, health, crime and geographical access, suicidal rates are highly correlated with social deprivation—areas experiencing higher levels of poverty and social disadvantage tend to have higher suicide rates (see Figure 4).
Therefore, we can almost draw a profile of the biggest group of people who committed suicides in Scotland: working-age men, who enjoyed a lower social-economic status in the society.
What might explain for this phenomenon?
In 2012, five scholars investigated reasons of Scotland’s higher suicide rates than England’s. Unconventionally, they found out that socioeconomic deprivation and social fragmentation was relatively a small factor influencing the wide gap. On the other hand, the mental health issues, reflected in higher prescriptions for psychotropic drugs, alcohol and drug abuse, are the most significant factors accounting for the differences between Scotland and England.
Indeed, in the past five years, Scotland has seen a drastic decline in mental health and wellbeing among its residents, indicated by the mental wellbeing score (WEMWBS) under NHS Scotland (see Figure 5). Mainly explained by the Covid-19 restrictions including lockdown and closures of social venues, it is understandable that Scots’ mental wellbeing was severely challenged during that period of difficult times.
On top of that, Scotland’s drug and alcohol-related deaths remain among the worst in the entire Europe. Within the UK, Scotland’s drug poisoning death rate almost triples the rate of England and Northern Ireland and doubles that of Wale as of 2022 (see Figure 6). The number of deaths caused by drug poisoning in Scotland is also disproportionately high, with Scotland accounting for just 1/10 of the population of England, yet approaching nearly 1/3 of its death toll. Meanwhile, the situation has perpetuated as evidenced by the alarming rise in drug misuse-related death rates over the past two decades (see Figure 5). Dave Liddell, former Chief Executive of Scottish Drugs Forum, traced the roots of Scotland’s drug problem to the deindustrialisation in 1980s and the lack of government intervention which has left a lasting social and economical legacy.
Future ahead: no one should be forgotten
To tackle the challenge, the Scottish government has launched a long-term suicide prevention strategy in 2022 and established two bodies to deliver the plan: Suicide Prevention Scotland and National Suicide Prevention Advisory Group. Meanwhile, the government also promised to increase the suicide prevention budget from £1.4 million to £2.8 million by 2026.
With the aim of “Creating Hope Together”, the government will target social inequalities, improve mental health services and optimize prioritized resource allocation.
Mikeysline: It’s ok not to be ok
After Mikey’ s death, his uncle Ron founded the charity Mikeysline that offers mental health support and hotline service to people at risk of self-harm. “They set two special shelters on each end of the Kessock Bridge, and people have to walk past it if they wanna cross the bridge”, Carmen said.
Mikeysline’ s chief executive Emily Stoke referred to the booth as a “pause point”, where people can find mental health helpline details if needed . In an interview, she said, “We all need a pause point sometimes when things feel overwhelming”.
If Mikey ever had the chance to pass by the phone booth on his way to the bridge, would he pause for a moment and call for help?