Five-month spate of suicides put down to depression

Monday, June 20, was a day Kaitaia-based Far North coroner Robin Fountain would rather not have had.

An unexplained epidemic of nine local suicides resulted in a gruelling series of inquests into the tragedies.

The causes of death of six men and three women, who all took their own lives in the greater Kaitaia area during a five-month period, were established, but the reasons for the tragedies are harder to find.

Two other cases just outside the November 2004 to April 2005 period are not yet ready for the coroner's court.

The nine confirmed suicides and the two still under inquiry are concerning Mr Fountain, who describes the number as alarming.

"It was a horrible day," Mr Fountain said.

After checking with other coroners to see whether they had an increase in suicide numbers, Mr Fountain says it appears to be something that's occurred only in the northern Far North.

The coroner says he asked police to make "careful inquiries" into a number of factors, such as personal and financial issues, to see if there was a common link between any of the suicides.

"There was none, other than depression."

Although it appeared there was an occasional case that was different, the common link in the majority of deaths was "unrecognised and usually untreated depression", he said.

He is concerned such depression, an illness affecting about 20 per cent of the New Zealand population, can and does led to unexpected suicide.

"In my experience [as a coroner], people don't commit suicide to die. They do it to get themselves out of a situation they're in."

In one case Mr Fountain heard this week, the father of one victim made "an eloquent plea" for issues involved to be talked about.

The father said he had discussed the suicide with his wider family and was horrified to find a number of his nieces and nephews had suffered from depression and had contemplated suicide.

Mr Fountain's advice is that if someone has a teenager, partner, husband or wife who is depressed, they should try to get them share their problems and insist on getting them to a doctor for treatment.

"In nine cases, I heard the anguish of nine families who have had to face a suicide by a loved one and in most of these cases, the act of suicide stemmed from the illness of depression.

"I believe it might have been possible to save some of these people if treatment had been sought from a doctor," Mr Fountain said.

Northland District Health Board clinical adviser Dr Nick Chamberlain, who liaises with GPs, says depression is treatable.

Dr Chamberlain says medication can be prescribed and a positive response seen in most patients after two to four weeks of treatment.

Behavioural therapy and psycho-therapies, as well as counselling, are also available.

Signs of depression include sleep disturbance, low moods especially in the morning, loss of appetite, lack of energy and social withdrawal.

"In many people, it's just situational - loss of jobs or disappointments over the years."

Men aged 25-44 are most at risk of suicide, with Maori men in that age group at even higher risk.

Dr Chamberlain says there is no real explanation for the recent spate of Far North suicides, which could be just "a statistical blip".