The Little Blue Book

SOME FACTS ABOUT SUICIDE IN AUSTRALIA: 2 • In Australia, death by suicide is twice the national road toll • Australia has among the highest rates of suicide on the planet • In 2016, 2866 Australians died by intentional self-harm (down marginally from 3027 deaths in 2015); around 8 deaths per day • Death from suicide occurs among males at a rate three times greater than that for females – being 17.8 deaths per 100,000 males (2016), while for females it was 5.8 deaths per 100,000 in the same year • Suicide is the leading cause of premature mortality in Australia, occurring at a national average rate of 11.7 deaths per 100,000 people • However, the suicide rate for people living in rural Australia, at 20 deaths per 100,000 persons, is nearly two times higher than the rate of suicide deaths in urban and city areas 3 • Similarly, the suicide rate in the Northern Territory is at 21.0 deaths per 100,000 people, due to the high rates of death by suicide among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders • In 2016, suicide was the leading cause of death among Australians aged 15-44 years of age and the second-leading cause of death among those 45-54 years of age • In 2016, the median age at death by suicide was 43.3 years. The tragedy in these figures, and the impact of suicide on ‘those left behind’, is part of a problem we all own – the community, workplaces, government and families. But we’re not helpless to do something about those figures; it’s a tragedy we can assist in averting. (1) www.aihw.gov.au ; Leading Causes of Death (2) abs.gov.au/ausstats ; Causes of Death, Australia, 2016; (3). A Regional Approach To Understanding Farmer Suicide Rates In Queensland; U. Arnautovska, S. McPhedran, D. De Leo (4) Steve Ellen, University of Melbourne and Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre; from an article following the suicide deaths of chef Anthony Bourdain and designer Kate Spade; www.smh.com.au/lifestyle/health-and-wellness/bourdain-spade-questions-remain-but- this-much-is-certain) “Everyone has secrets; no-one ever knows reliably what’s going on inside someone’s head, and those secrets die with them. “I’ve spoken tomore than a thousand peoplewho have attempted suicide, and even they are mostly at a loss to understand their own behaviour. “Self-understanding is elusive, understanding others is speculative. Everything that follows a suicide is speculation. “What can each of us do to help? Pay attention to our own mental health, and that of those around us. Talk about mental illness as if it were no different to physical health: “I had the flu last week, it was terrible, but not as bad as last year when I was depressed.” 4 Steve Ellen, University of Melbourne A reflection on suicide 105 ADA Australia PostScript Section 2 Section 1 Section 3