The policy and research vacuum on teenage male suicides

As I and so many others have been saying for some time, suicide prevention needs to have a higher national political profile than it has. It is growing but not growing quickly enough. There is an opportunity for the new Government, with key stakeholders, to move forward at pace.

?Last week’s updated 2023 Office for National Statistics suicide figures (https://tinyurl.com/468mfman) in England and Wales were deeply troubling. The male suicide rates are at their highest since 1999 (17.4 per 100,000 and 4,506 in total), the female rate is the highest since 1994 (5.7 per 100,000 and 1,563 in total).

Since 2000, it has meant we have lost 90,656 males (the size of Wembley Stadium) and 29,735 females in England and Wales. More, when you add Scotland and Northern Ireland’s figures - 13 and over four per day respectively.

How are we as a society and as individuals along with government (national and local), health providers and employers? It’s everyone’s business. Recent funding cuts to suicide prevention are certainly not welcome in the current environment.

Given it is going up, and has been since the mid noughties, there needs to be far more policy and funding oomph behind national and local plans, narratives and causes. It just seems all our political leaders are silent even though there is a clear crisis. There is little narrative or research on why it is increasing – post-pandemic challenges, economic downturn/cost of life pressures, changing employment structures, increasing societal stress/breakdown?

The narrative also continues to be focused on middle-aged men (453 men aged 45-49 died by suicide in 2023 – 25.5/100,000) and the overall increases in female suicide (188 women aged 50-54 died by suicide in 2023 – 9.2/100,000), but the data tells many more stories.

For example, why are the suicide rates for men in the North West and East twice as high as in London (there are different patterns of regional suicide rates for women so it is not a ‘northern issue’)? The main focus on middle-aged men and women risks masking other groups. Not just regional, occupations or ethnicity differences, but also within the age groups.

?I have therefore dug into the data looking at the younger 15-19 year-old male age group given the welcome wide ranging debate about the pressures and problems facing so many of them in today’s Britain.

These issues and problems include relative educational underperformance to bullying (including online) to loneliness, body image, dragged into criminal activity, lack of employment and feeling that society does not care about them. The latter based on a national policy narrative that sees 15-19 year-old males as a problem or in some places not even worthy of any mention (see my recent post on strip searches - https://tinyurl.com/3772u897). No wonder some feel lost.

The suicide figures, specifically on mid-late teenage young men are awful too. They received no comment albeit there was a right call by PAPYRUS Prevention of Young Suicide charity for their audience.

?149 young men aged 15-19 died by suicide in 2023 (England and Wales). The rate (8.1/100,000) is marginally lower than the recent peak in 2021 (151 deaths and 8.6/100,000). The previous highest figure was reported in 2001 (148 deaths and 9/100,000). This century, 2,757 young men aged 15-19 died by suicide.

What is the cause - bullying (including online), loneliness, body image, dragged into criminal activity, lack of employment, despondency, lack of future, feeling that society does not care about them, adverse childhood pressures, academic result pressures, sexual violence, intimate image abuse (including sextortion) and domestic abuse?

?The figures for 15-19 year-old young women in 2023 was sadly 45 lives (2.6/100,000) and is at its lowest rate since 2014. Still far too high and having looked at the provisional rolling 2024 figures there has been a worrying increase in young women taking their own lives this year.

?It is, of course, should only be used for context, however, the gap between the suicide rate for young men and women in this group is the highest since 2001 and the numerical gap of 104 is the highest since then too.

I have found no recent discussion or debate about the teenage male or female suicide rates let alone policies to address it bar those at university.

?The policy, communications and research response needs to find answers including: ·???

1)???? What are the causes and methods (for each gender)?

2)???? Are they different to adult suicides and why?

3)???? What intersectional trends and issues are there?

4)???? Why is the rate for teenage boys higher than teenage girls – and why is the gap

increasing?

5)???? What can be done to reduce the numbers and rates for both genders?

6)???? What are coroner reports, family testimonies, school reports and wider research on the

mental health of teenagers saying?

7)???? What more support can we give charities like Papyrus?

There is a startling lack of research or policy response on this – which to me suggests political and societal indifference. This needs to change – and the Government need to take a lead on this. ?Surely, the policy and research silence cannot continue. The lives of these teenagers and their loved ones deserve better.

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?(1) Addendum: There figures are 10-14 year olds are also a concern with 12 boys and 13 girls taking their own lives in 2023, the highest numbers and rates (0.6 and 0.7 per 100,000 being the highest this century). ?A real concern too.

?(2) Addendum: I tend to use actual numbers because humans should not be reduced to percentage/rates per 100,000 and are also for public understandability.

?I have tried the LinkedIn Article function to see how it plays out. Let me know what you think?