Suicide rate in young women increases

The suicide rate in young women has increased and some are using more traditionally masculine methods of committing suicide.

New statistics show 141 females died of suicide in 2003, compared to 113 in 2002.

The male rate of suicide is higher with 374 males dying by suicide in 2003 compared with 352 in 2002.

Merryn Statham, director of Suicide Prevention Information New Zealand, said today that people had to be cautious about what they read into annual increases and decreases either in specific groups or in total numbers.

But with that in mind, "yes we have seen both the self-harm rate for young women and the complete suicide rate increasing slightly".

She also said those working in the sector were seeing young women, particularly those with "very, very high needs" adopting the more "traditionally masculine" methods of suicide.

Generally more women chose self-poisoning to commit suicide which meant there was a greater chance of intervention.

But some women were now choosing the "more lethal" traditionally masculine methods of committing suicide.

There was no single factor behind the increases, she said.

Associate Health Minister Jim Anderton, who released the statistics yesterday, said twice as many females as males were hospitalised for self-harm, or attempted suicide.

Mr Anderton said this was a worrying statistic because those who attempted suicide and failed were more likely to be successful later.

Ms Statham said it was concerning a group of people were utilising self-harming behaviours as a mechanism for coping.

"That is a very genuine and major concern and I think that there are real opportunities to intervene here and to provide much better solutions to problem solving than harm against self."

The fact that 50 more people had died from suicide in 2003 than the previous year was a real concern because what that meant was "amplified grief and bereavement and distress in the community and in families and also in workplaces".

Evidence from research suggested that people bereaved by suicide were at "increased risk themselves".

The figures show that for females the suicide rate is similar for Maori and non-Maori, but Maori males have a higher suicide rate than non-Maori males.

For the first time, figures have also been released on the impact of deprivation on suicide. In the least deprived areas of New Zealand, the suicide rate was 8.8 per 100,000 population while in the most deprived areas it was 13.2 per 100,000 population.

Eighty per cent of all suicides are in people aged 25 years and over.

New Zealand's suicides figures are similar to those for Australia -- 11.5 deaths per 100,000 in New Zealand and 11.1 deaths per 100,000 in Australia.

Mr Anderton said that while suicide numbers and rates had increased from 2002 to 2003, long-term trends indicated average suicides were levelling off after a general downward trend since peaking in the late 1990s.

The suicide rate had come down by 25 per cent since 1997, Ms Statham said.

Mr Anderton said the causes of suicide were complex but a major risk was mental illness, particularly depression.

It was "sobering" to note that suicide was the major cause -- ahead of motor vehicle accidents, all other injuries, falls, drowning and assault -- of fatal injuries.

As he released the 2003 figures, Mr Anderton said he hoped the passing of the Coroners Bill, seeing coroners appointed full-time, would mean more recent figures could be released sooner.

"Because of the part-time nature of coroners now some of the reports and findings take much longer than they would if you had a full-time professional coroners service."

Work was also going on to better co-ordinate reporting between police, coroners and the health system which recorded the statistics.

"I'd like now to be reporting 2004 at the very least."

Having said that, he also pointed out that New Zealand produced the most recent statistics of any OECD country.

The Government has set aside $10.3 million for direct suicide prevention spending between 2005 and 2009. Another $6m is to be spent during the same period on a national project to raise awareness of depression.

- NZPA