Suicide statistics

I was a bit down and searching on the web when I found some interesting statistics:

  • Suicide accounted for 4,315 deaths in the UK in 1995, (approx 12 people per day.)

  • 2,185 deaths were recorded as "undetermined deaths" (where the intention of the people concerned to kill themselves was unclear.)

  • The total was 6,500 deaths in 1995 (approx 18 people every day)

  • Suicide accounts for approximately 1% of all deaths every year.

  • The current suicide rate for the overall population is 10 per 100,000 per year.

  • Suicide is responsible for more deaths per year than road traffic accidents.

  • Nearly three times more men than women kill themselves every year (of the 6,500 suicides and undetermined deaths in 1995, 4,835 (74%) were men and 1,665 (26%) were women).

  • A report commissioned by the US Government concluded that lesbian and gay youth were 2 or 3 times more likely to attempt suicide than other young people

  • An estimated 100,000 people per year are referred to hospitals in England and Wales for deliberate self-harm, mainly involving drug overdoses or self-injury.

  • 90% of a sample of female self-injurers had cut themselves and one third had inflicted blows or scalded themselves,

  • 74% had begun self-injuring during childhood or adolescence (0-19yrs) and 69% had been inflicting injuries on themselves for more than five years.
    (According to a survey performed for the Bristol Crisis Service for Women in 1994/95,)

source: (http://www.mentalhealth.org.uk/html/content/brief001.cfm)