The traditional method for looking at suicide trends may be masking an increase among younger people.

Researchers at the University of Bristol have been looking at how figures on suicide are collected in England and Wales. They say that looking at suicides across all age ranges misses out the trends there might be in specific age groups. If, instead, you looked at the potential years of life lost it becomes apparent that the suicide rate among younger men has actually increased by five per cent.

The traditional method for assessing trends suggests that suicide rates have gone down by 18 per cent, as a whole. But if mental health among younger men is deteriorating, this is a cause for concern and should be addressed. The researchers go on to say that they believe there may be similar trend in other countries such as Australia and the USA.

Source

The Lancet 20th September 2003