New Zealand's emphasis on preventing youth suicide has been called into question by a report showing nearly 80 per cent of suicide deaths are adults over 25.

In a paper published in the New Zealand Medical Journal, the principal investigator of the Canterbury Suicide Project, Dr Annette Beautrais, said suicide prevention strategies had focused on New Zealand's high youth suicide rate but virtually ignored the problem of suicide in older age groups.

"Despite the fact youth suicide rates are high, the fraction of suicides accounted for by young people under 25 is a little over 20 per cent," she said.

"There is an urgent need to develop a national suicide prevention policy that is applicable to all age groups, and accords all age groups equal levels of care and protection."

Dr Beautrais said males aged between 25 and 55 accounted for almost half of all New Zealand suicides."So we need to focus on adults and particularly men in their middle years."

She said continued claims that New Zealand had the highest rate of youth suicide in the world were not correct.

Latest suicide statistics showed that youth (15-24) suicides had dropped from 140 in 1998 to 96 in 2000. Young people still had high rates of suicide but the highest rate was now among those aged 25-29. The total number of suicides in 2000 was 458.

Dr Beautrais said there was a public perception that youth suicide meant school-age children but they made up only 3 per cent of suicides. That perception had generated the idea that a school-based approach, such as the Yellow Ribbon Fight for Life programme, was the best approach, but she disputed that.

New Zealand was one of the first countries to develop a national youth suicide prevention strategy, she said. But it now lagged behind other countries in the area of adult and older adult suicide prevention.

Ministry of Health spokeswoman Maria Cotter said the New Zealand Health Strategy 2000 recognised the need for an all-age-groups approach and the ministry would start work this year with agencies, including the Ministry of Youth Affairs.

Dr Beautrais said policies for adults and older people probably would need to place less emphasis on childhood, family and social factors and greater emphasis on mental health factors, particularly the role of depression.

That call is supported by Dr Alison Taylor, chief executive of the Mental Health Foundation. She said the foundation would be encouraging mental health promotion and prevention rather than crisis treatment alone.

Dr Peter Watson, director of Suicide Prevention Information New Zealand, supported a strategy for all ages and said it was also important to address the issue of Maori suicide rates, which remained higher than non-Maori.

SMHAI Home | About Suicide | About Mental Health | Suicide Prevention | Suicide Survivors
Suicide Attempters | Self-Injury - Cutters | Crisis | Donate | SMHAI Library | Online Support & Resources
Speakers & Presentations | Memorials, Remebrances & Celebrations Of Life | Healing Music
Suggested Reading - Survivors | Suggested Reading - Attempters & Self-Injurers | Mental Health Pros.
Upcoming Events | Dr. Roerich's Welcome | Ann Gay's Welcome | Legal & About SMHAI
Privacy Policy | Copyright Notice | Awards Honoring SMHAI | SMHAI Awards Program | Contact

© SMHAI 2004 - 2006 All Rights Reserved.
No copying or redistribution without expressed written permission of SMHAI.
Logo Design by Allen R. Jacobson.
Site launched July 01, 2004.