Cheap alcohol blamed for suicide rise

Published Wednesday, 29 June 2011

There have been renewed calls for minimum pricing on alcohol in Northern Ireland, after a report found that the link between drinking and suicide in young people cannot be ignored.

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Alcohol connected to rise in suicide
Analysis

Over 300 youths took their own lives in the region last year - the highest ever total.

The report, 'Suicide and Homicide in Northern Ireland', found that drugs and alcohol are fuelling the problem, made worse by mental illness and social deprivation.

It said the number of suicide cases involving binge drinking in Northern Ireland was 60%, which is higher than anywhere else in the UK.

"Alcohol dependence was also the most common clinical diagnosis in patients convicted of homicide, with more than half known to have a problem prior to conviction," research author Professor Louis Appleby said.

The Royal College of Psychiatrists in NI said the study underlines the need for minimum alcohol pricing.

We welcome the recommendation in the report that pricing should be a key step towards reducing the rate of suicide.
Royal College of Psychiatrists in NI

"We can no longer afford to ignore the growing trend linking alcohol and suicide, particularly in young people," the group's Dr Uzma Huda said.

"The most straight forward action that can be taken would be to introduce a minimum unit price for alcohol. Minimum pricing has been demonstrated to have an impact on alcohol consumption of heavy drinkers, particularly younger people who binge drink."

The matter of alcohol pricing is currently out for public consultation. If measures go ahead, the minimum cost per unit of alcohol could be set between 40p and 70p in licensed premises.

Health Minister Edwin Poots said experts believe upping the price will reduce the suicide rate.

"We have alcohol being sold in some instances at considerably less than 20p per unit, so young people are binging on very cheap alcohol," Mr Poots told UTV.

"It is a depressant, and all the experts in this field believe that putting the price of that type of alcohol up will help reduce suicide."

Wednesday's report was carried out by The National Confidential Inquiry into Suicide and Homicide by People with Mental Illness, commissioned by the Public Health Agency.

It said there were a total of 1,865 deaths by suicide in Northern Ireland between 2000 and 2008, averaging 207 per year.

EXTERNAL LINKS / CONTACTS

Lifeline website

Public Health Agency website

This level is higher than England and Wales, but lower than in Scotland.

Comments

16 Comments

Frosty in Here wrote (235 days ago):

Frank, no offence but I don't think it's that simple. Charlie raised the point of over 50s. Many suicides are farmers in rural areas, many pensioners take their own lives, psychiatrists and doctors are pretty high up the list too. Now are you seriously going to sit there and say it was their parents' fault? If an 80 year old takes his/her own life it was because of the way they were brought up? Or because they feel like they're a burden on a society that has isolated them? Ironically enough, if you report to A&E and tell them you are feeling suicidal, they won't help you if you've been drinking.

Frank in n.ireland wrote (236 days ago):

Frosty, it's simply like this, the truth hurts. So many people stuck in their bubble so they think nothing else exsists, they need to man up and deal with thier problems in a sensible grown up way. I'm sorry but it's the simple truth, no point going down the road of blame this blame that, go straight to the root cause and fix it...

charlie in Armagh wrote (236 days ago):

Coming from an area where there was not only pack sucides but people headin into there 50's n older. I truthfully think its a mixture of things poor support for people wiv mental illness, drug/alcohol abuse, people doin a spare of the moment r shock reaction to somethin they dont understand. Its soo easy to think that its the easy way n unfortunitly drink blares visions n this is when bad idea's seems good!

Frosty in Here wrote (236 days ago):

Suicide is when the pain outweighs the pleasure in life, it's a permanent solution to what may or may not be a temporary problem. Frank, I don't think blaming the parents is of any help, in fact it seems insulting and hurtful to those families who have suffered a loss through suicide. Some things we can't talk about, as depression sets in, people withdraw to a point where they are cut off, alcohol, drugs etc are a cushion, they ease the pain of living and maybe even keep people alive longer in some cases but it is like living in purgatory. 500 deaths on the roads every year in the UK, 5000 suicides but no advertising campaign there, no help offered, no practical solutions, just some idiot in an office coming up with ideas like make drink dearer and cream the profits. What a sickening society we live in, hardly surprising so many do take their own lives.

Frank in n.ireland wrote (237 days ago):

oh aye blame it on alcohol, not the way you bring up your kids, most of the suicides can easily be avoided if families talked about their problems, not let them get to point where it takes the worst toll. Then it'll be blamed on the alcohol, blame the drug dealers etc, nobody is forcing the substances down their throats, but the parents IF they CARE can bring a halt to it. And if you can't see this, then your are ignorant to yourself and your children. You can either leave it till the time when something bad happens or take your life and your childrens lifes in your own hands and deal with the situation in the NOW before it's too late. If you say I can't talk to my child, well then that speaks volumes about what your family life is like. you blame cheap alcohol on your childs problems, oh please it's like the people still saying that road killed my child he was driving on, it's not the road that kills, it's the way people drive on them. Cheap alcohol is to blame for nothing. I'm sorry for a hard way of viewing a simple problem but you people crying of this and that being to blame for all your childs problems are only a fool onto themselfs, sort your family problems out at the source, in your own house...

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