SUICIDE IN AUSTRALIA
G'day folks,
Today I present an unsavoury subject, but one that needs to be discussed - openly. A death is classified as a ‘suicide’ by a coroner based
on evidence that a person died as a result of a deliberate act to cause his or
her own death. If there is contrary evidence, a coroner may classify the death
as having been caused by someone else (murder or manslaughter), or as accidental. If
there is insufficient evidence, the coroner may not be able to reach a decision
as to the cause of death.
Facts:
Suicide is a prominent public health concern.
Over the past five years, the average number of suicide deaths per year is
2,415.
In 2012, 1,901 males (16.8 per 100,000)
and 634 females (5.6 per 100,000) died by suicide, a total of 2,535 deaths
(11.2 per 100,000), which equates to an average of 6.9 deaths by suicide
in Australia each day.
For those of Aboriginal and Torres Strait
Islander descent, the relative age standardised suicide rate is 2.5 times
higher for males and 3.4 times higher for females than for the corresponding
non-Indigenous population. For further facts and statistics relating to the
Indigenous population, visit the priority population facts and stats page.
The highest age-specific suicide rate for
males in 2012 was observed in the 85+ age group (37.6 per 100,000). This
rate was considerably higher than the age-specific suicide rate observed in all
other age groups, with the next highest age-specific suicide rate being in the
80-84 year age group (28.1 per 100,000) and the 45-49 year age group (26.9 per
100,000). The lowest age-specific suicide rate for males was in the 15-19 year
age group (9.3 per 100,000) and the 0-14 year age group (0.3 per
100,000).
The highest age-specific suicide rate for
females in 2012 was observed in the 80-84 age group (9.5 per
100,000), closely followed by the 50-54 age group (9.0 per 100,000) and the
15-19 age group (8.3 per 100,000). The lowest age-specific suicide rate for
females was observed in the 65-69 age group (4.1 per 100,000) and the 0-14 age
group (0.4 per 100,000).
Suicide rates in Australia peaked in 1963
(17.5 per 100,000), declining to 11.3 per 100,000 in 1984, and climbing back to
14.6 in 1997. Rates have been lower than this since that year. The
age-standardised suicide rate for persons in 2012 was 11.2 per
100,000.
In 2012, approximately 75% of people who
died by suicide were males and 25% were females.
Suicide accounted for 1.7% of death from all
causes in 2012. In males 2.5% of all deaths were attributed to suicide,
while the rate or females was 0.9%. - See more at:
http://www.mindframe-media.info/for-media/reporting-suicide/facts-and-stats#sthash.kJcTbwSR.dpuf
Suicide and age
- With the exception of those aged over 85, there has been a trend towards men in their middle years (i.e. 30-49) having the highest rates of suicide.
- In 2012, the peak age group for suicide was recorded in men aged 85 or above (37.6 per 100,000).
- From 1980 onwards, there has not been any one age group of females that has consitently had a higher rate of suicide than other age groups.
- According to official data, child suicide (5-15 years' old) is a rare event in Australia. Based on 5 year aggregate scores from 2008 to 2012, age-standardised suicide rates were low in both males (0.4 per 100,000) and females (0.4 per 100,000).
Suicide and gender
- Suicide is much more common among males than females in every state and territory of Australia. This is consistent with trends observed in other Western countries.
- The ratio of male to female suicides rose from 2:1 in the 1960s to over 4:1 in the 1990s. Throughout the early 2000s, the ratio of male to female suicides has been somewhat below 4:1, and stood at 3.0:1 in 2012.
- In 2012, 56.9% of male suicide deaths were by hanging, followed by 10.3% due to poisoning by drugs and then 9% due to poisoning by other agents.
- In 2012, hanging was the most common method of suicide used by females, constituting 47% of all female suicide deaths. The second most common cause of suicide death was poisoning by drugs (27.1% of suicide deaths).
- In 2012, suicide represented 2.5% of all male deaths and 0.9% of all female deaths.
- Suicide rates for men born outside Australia are slightly lower than for Australian-born men, whereas corresponding rates for women are very similar.
Suicide by state and territory
- Combining suicide data over a five-year period provides a more reliable picture of differences across the states and territories due to the relatively small number of suicides in some states and territories in any one year.
- In recent years (2008-2012), the highest state based standardised suicide rates where in the Northern Territory (18.1 per 100,000) and Tasmania (14.1 per 100,000), followed by Western Australia (13.5 per 100,000), Queensland (13.0 per 100,000) and South Australia (11.8 per 100,000). In contrast, Victoria (9.7 per 100,000), the Australian Capital Territory (9.1 per 100,000) and New South Wales (8.9 per 100,000) had the lowest standardised rates of suicide.
Attempted suicide
- According to hospitals data, females are more likely to deliberately injure themselves than males. In the 2008-2009 financial year, 62% of those who were hospitalised due to self-harm were female.
- For males and females, the highest rate of deliberate self-harm occurred for those aged from their teens to middle age. In 2008-2009, 73% of those who were hospitalised due to self-harm were aged between 15 and 44 years, with the highest rates observed in females aged 25-44 years (6,809 per 100,000 population). The same age group also had the highest hospitalisation rate in males (4,791 per 100,000 population).
- From 2008 to 2009, there were 26,935 cases of hospitalised care due to self-harm; a rate of 117.9 cases per 100,000 population. It is important to recognise, however, not all people who are hospitalised due to self-harm may have intended to die by suicide.
- Rates of hospitalised self-harm were much lower among both older men and women 65+ years (4%) and children under 14 years (1.9%) than other age groups in 2008-2009. However, the average length of stay in hospital due to self-harm was highest among older age groups i.e. 65+ years.
- People with a previous history of attempted suicide are at greatest risk of suicide11.
- Mental disorders such as major depression, psychotic illnesses and eating disorders are associated with an increased risk of suicide especially after discharge from hospital or when treatment has been reduced12,13.
- People with alcohol or drug abuse problems have a higher risk of dying by suicide than the general population.
- Males are around 3.3 times more likely to die by suicide than females.
- Young Aboriginal Torres Strait Islander males (15-19 years) are 4.4 times more likely to die by suicide than are other young Australian males. Similarly, young Aboriginal Torres Strait Islander females (15-19 years) are 5.9 times more likely to die by suicide than are other young females7.
Youth suicide
- In 2012, 70 males aged 15-19 years and 144 males aged 20-24 years died by suicide. In the same year, 59 females aged 15-19 years, and 51 females aged 20 to 24 years died by suicide.
- Considering all causes of death, suicide accounted for 21.9% of deaths among 15-19 year old males and 28.7% of deaths among 20-24 year old males in 2012. The corresponding percentages for females in both of these age groups are 32.6% and 25.2% respectively.
- During the mid-1980s, suicide rates for 15-19 year old males rose rapidly and peaked at 21.0 per 100,000 in 1988. Over the following decade, rates fluctuated around 17-19 per 100,000 for this group and stood at 18.4 per 100,000 in 1997.
- Since 1997, suicide rates among 15-19 year old males have shown a pattern where they are gradually decreasing. There was an increase in rates to 11.3 per 100,000 in 2007 after the ABS revised its original estimates following their quality improvement processes, however this number has decreased to 9.3 per 100,000 in 2012.
- For females aged 15-19 years, the suicide rate in 2012 was 8.3 per 100,000, slightly higher than previous years.
- Males aged 20-24 have shown considerable decreases in the age-standardised suicide rates since the 1997 peak, with 17.4 per 100,000 in the 2012 preliminary data.
- Suicide rates for females aged 20-24 show that rates peaked in 1997 (9.0 per 100,000) and were lowest in 2003 (3.8 per 100,000). Preliminary data for 2012 was 6.4 per 100,000; a slight decrease from the 7.2 per 100,000 observed in 2011.
SUICIDE
LINE:
1300 651 251
ONLINE
COUNSELLING:
KIDS HELPLINE:
Clancy's comment: Mm ... Sad, eh? But, no use burying our heads in the sand. If you know someone who is doing it tough, give them a call. You never know? If you don't, you may regret it forever.
I'm ...
Think about this!
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