An Illawarra mental health expert is calling for more funding for suicide prevention programs as new figures reveal more Australians are now dying from suicide than road accidents.
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The Australian Bureau of Statistics' latest report on the causes of death revealed there were 2522 deaths from suicide in 2013 compared with 1428 through transport accidents.
For the second year in a row, suicide was the leading cause of death for Australians aged 15 to 44 and for the first year it was also the leading cause of death for the age group five to 17 years.
While the overall number of deaths from suicide had dropped slightly since 2012 (2574), the figures show that over the past five years, deaths from suicide have increased by 8 per cent.
Meantime, the median age at death for suicides is lower than for many other causes at 44.5 years of age. As a result, suicide accounted for over 85,000 years of life lost - making it the leading cause of premature death in Australia.
Grand Pacific Health mental health manager Dr Alex Hains said more government funding was needed to deal with this societal issue.
"Suicide has overtaken road traffic accidents as a leading cause of death for the ages 15 to 44, and even younger," he said.
"There's been a lot of very successful public campaigns on road safety; it would be nice to think that similar efforts, and funding, would have similar results in relation to suicide."
Dr Hains said organisations that supported people thinking about suicide or self-harm, like Lifeline, were incredibly important. However, it was a time for a "whole of community approach".
"Suicide prevention and mental health generally is everybody's business," he said. "We want everyone to be more aware and more confident in supporting other people as well as looking after themselves."
Grand Pacific Health runs a range of programs for all ages, with an emphasis on programs for adolescents and young adults.
The ABS statistics showed that suicide caused nearly 35 per cent of the deaths among males aged 15 to 19 years in 2013 and it caused just over 26 per cent of deaths for females in this age group.
"This age group is where a lot of the issues emerge as it's a particularly difficult time for people to navigate," Dr Hains said. "It's important we can start teaching them more helpful ways of dealing with stress when they're young before they turn to things like suicide or self-harm."
Dr Hains said Grand Pacific Health programs also focused on educating parents, to make them aware of "flags" that may indicate their child was suicidal, and to teach them how to approach the issue.
"It's particularly disturbing that suicide was the leading cause of death for those aged five to 17," he said.
"It's not suggesting that people aged five are suiciding but we do know of deaths by suicide for people under 10.
"It's a really scary thing for parents to find out their child is thinking about suicide or self-harm and parents need support around that.
"They need to know how they can help their child, and how they can start a conversation with their family."
Dr Hains said as well as increased stress or depression, other indicators to watch out for included changes to a child's sleeping patterns - either sleeping far more, or less, than usual - or changes to their appetite.
Lifeline South Coast executive director Grahame Gould said while the suicide statistics remained high, the number of people reaching out for help was growing.
Mr Gould said there would be an average of around 40 suicide deaths in the Illawarra and Shoalhaven annually.
Meantime, Lifeline's Wollongong and Nowra 24-hour telephone crisis support centres received around 17,000 calls a year.
"To prevent suicide everyone in the community needs to take a role," Mr Gould said. "We all have different roles - whether it's about looking after yourself or looking after your loved ones."
Mr Gould said while three out of four deaths from suicide in Australia were men, it was not a "male phenomenon".
"Women attempt suicide significantly more than men but the method they choose is often less lethal," he said.
When all age groups were factored in, suicide was the 14th leading cause of all 147,678 deaths in 2013 according to the ABS report.
Heart disease remained the leading cause of death in Australia, while deaths from dementia and Alzheimer's disease now outrank cerebrovascular diseases as the second leading cause.
Helping someone at risk of suicide
- Do something. If you are concerned that someone you know is considering suicide, act immediately.
- Ask if they are thinking about suicide. Talking about it will not put the idea in their head but will encourage them to talk about their feelings.
- Check out their safety. Have they got a plan to kill themselves, have they ever deliberately harmed themselves?
- Take action. Seek support from a GP, counsellor, emergency services, mental or community health services, religious leader or telephone crisis support services.
- Ask for a promise. Ask them to promise to reach out when thoughts of suicide return.
- Stay connected. The continued involvement of family and friends is very important.
Source: Lifeline
Readers seeking support and information about suicide prevention can contact Lifeline on 131114 or Suicide Call Back Service 1300659467.
