A 20-year decline in suicide in the UK came to an end in 2007. Since then the suicide rate has been rising, especially among men, who are three times more likely than women to take their own lives. The…
Cotton has become a controversial crop in India.
captrosha
Arguments surrounding the use of genetically modified crops and whether they are the solution to the world’s problems of food supply and public health are no nearer to resolution than when GM was introduced…
A health crisis in Greece brought on by national austerity measures has driven up cases of HIV, suicide, major depression, and infant death, and left hundreds of thousands locked out the health system…
A spike in suicides linked to spikes in heat.
www.shutterstock.com
Heatwaves and high temperatures can have a dramatic impact on people’s physical health. We only have to look at the increases in emergency department admissions during recent heatwaves to know that. But…
Coronation Street’s Hayley Cropper killed herself before the watershed last night. The build up to this prompted the inevitable moral panic frenzy. The media’s role in the representation of suicide is…
Murder-suicide is a unique (and extreme) response to significant, stressful life events such as relationship separation.
Image from shutterstock.com
As details emerge of the latest appalling shooting incident in the United States, it seems the alleged perpetrator may have planned to die by suicide, after taking the lives of others - just as many have…
Given the money Australia has spent on mental health, it’s surprising that population data doesn’t show expected gains.
Ben Barnes
Despite two decades of investment in improving mental health services, the mental health of Australians has not improved. This may be because haven’t been spending money on the right approach and need…
Too simplistic to predict suicidal tendency.
Chandra Marsono
A new study has suggested that it may be possible to develop blood tests for suicide by identifying biomarkers in the blood. Although it has its limitations, the study is an important step towards a more…
Maternity services often become fragmented after women have given birth.
David/Flickr
Research we have just published shows the deaths of 48 of the 129 women in New South Wales who died during pregnancy or within a year of giving birth were due to suicide and trauma. It suggests mothers…
Young people are uniquely vulnerable to bullying – as both victims and perpetrators.
kid-josh/Flickr
The recent arrest by Canadian police of two young people who allegedly shared a photo of a young woman being sexually assaulted has once again highlighted the danger that social media can pose for teenagers…
Prisoners’ mental health was identified as an issue in the 1700s.
Pickersgill Reef
As long ago as 1780, John Howard noted that prisons were housing more “idiots and lunatics” and emphasised the detrimental effects that this had on the prison regime for both sets of prisoners. But while…
Studies have shown a connection between fiscal constraint and an increase in suicide.
PA/Dominic Lipinski
Stephanie Bottrill, aged 53, became another suicide statistic and a grim reminder of the harmful impact of the UK welfare reforms last month, according to reports. In her suicide note, it was said she…
Evidence from the Netherlands shows that common fears about legalising voluntary euthanasia aren’t warranted.
Image from shutterstock.com
Australians are living longer. But not everyone wants to live as long as they can. People sometimes have good reasons for wanting to end their lives: they may be suffering from a terminal illness; they…
Barriers can reduce the number of suicides at a particular location but broader means restriction measures are more complex.
AAP/Dan Peled
Brisbane Lord Mayor Graham Quirk’s recent announcement that barriers are to be erected on the Story Bridge in an effort to reduce suicides is very welcome. Studies consistently show that barriers have…
Gender and sexual minorities are known to be at high risk of suicide.
Guillaume Paumier
Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transsexual, and intersex (LGBTI) people were recognised as being specific high-risk groups for suicide in a 2010 senate committee report. While every suicide may not be preventable…
Chinese police in Tibet are equipped with guns and a fire extinguisher to deal with any person protesting through self immolation.
AAP/STR
On January 12, a young Tibetan man, Tsering Tashi, set himself on fire in a nomadic area in China’s Gansu province, while calling for the long life of the Dalai Lama and a free Tibet. Less than a week…
Governments, industry and communities must work together to address suicide risk factors for FIFO/DIDO workers.
AAP/Bagus Indahono
Barely a week passes without media coverage of some aspect of the real or perceived impacts of fly-in fly-out (FIFO) and drive-in drive-out (DIDO) work, especially in the mining sector. We hear about the…
Artworks by Mic Eales from the Inspired Lives exhibition at The Dax Centre. ‘End of statistics’ in the foreground.
Mic Eales
My doctoral studies in visual arts entails working with people who are not necessarily visual artists, but see the value in artistically expressing their story to expand our understanding of suicide. Suicide…
1783: Maria Anna Mayrin murders a three-year-old girl, turns herself in and is sentenced to death.
Stadt- und Staatsbibliothek Augsburg, Graphic, Verbrecher etc.
The Holy Roman Empire, 1704: Agnes Catherina Schickin slits the throat of a seven-year-old boy. 1746: Johanna Martauschin smashes the skull of a small child. 1753: Sophia Charlotte Krügerin cuts the throat…
Exposure to multiple forms of abuse dramatically drives up the risk of suicidal thoughts in young people, the study found.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/lainamarie/
Young people exposed to multiple types of abuse are up to six times more likely to have suicidal thoughts than those who were not, a US study has found, suggesting the need for a more holistic approach…
Principal Research Fellow, Australian Institute for Suicide Research and Prevention, National Centre of Excellence in Suicide Prevention, Griffith University