I also don’t trust mental health time series to show whether conditions are becoming more common, because it’s equally or more likely that more people are coming forward as having, e.g. depression, as it becomes very acceptable to talk about it.
But suicide rates are hugely influenced by the social acceptability of suicide specifically, and easy access to suicide methods that allow you to successfully kill yourself on impulse (e.g. guns, which have become less accessible to people over time). So unfortunately I don’t think suicide rates are a reliable way to track mental health problems over time either.
The ONS suicide data is from 1981, showing a decline by about a third by 2007 - pretty big, and I’m not aware that any popular suicide method became less available in that time.
(Unlike e.g. coal gas used in ovens, once a popular suicide method but it was phased out in the 1960s and 1970s leading to a suicide reduction—I don’t think coal gas was available thereafter as the last plant closed in the late 1970s. And guns have never been generally available in the UK.)
The methods used have apparently changed popularity in recent years; hanging/suffocation/strangulation and poisoning are the most popular:
But I’m not sure why they have changed other than ‘fashion’. It could be the case that some of these methods are significantly more effective than others which could affect the statistics, but I doubt by this much.
Also I’m not aware that suicide has changed in acceptability in the UK in recent decades. It was never considered acceptable (unlike say in Japan).
So I’m still inclined to regard suicide as a better proxy of extreme mental health problems than anything else. (That said, I’m not an expert at all in this area.)
Actually there has been one change in method—in 1998 it was made illegal to sell large quantities of paracetomol, to make casual suicide harder. The suicide rate has been falling since but there was no sudden drop, so I’m not sure we can attribute much effect to that.
I also don’t trust mental health time series to show whether conditions are becoming more common, because it’s equally or more likely that more people are coming forward as having, e.g. depression, as it becomes very acceptable to talk about it.
But suicide rates are hugely influenced by the social acceptability of suicide specifically, and easy access to suicide methods that allow you to successfully kill yourself on impulse (e.g. guns, which have become less accessible to people over time). So unfortunately I don’t think suicide rates are a reliable way to track mental health problems over time either.
Thanks for this.
The ONS suicide data is from 1981, showing a decline by about a third by 2007 - pretty big, and I’m not aware that any popular suicide method became less available in that time.
(Unlike e.g. coal gas used in ovens, once a popular suicide method but it was phased out in the 1960s and 1970s leading to a suicide reduction—I don’t think coal gas was available thereafter as the last plant closed in the late 1970s. And guns have never been generally available in the UK.)
The methods used have apparently changed popularity in recent years; hanging/suffocation/strangulation and poisoning are the most popular:
https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/birthsdeathsandmarriages/deaths/bulletins/suicidesintheunitedkingdom/2017registrations#suicide-methods
But I’m not sure why they have changed other than ‘fashion’. It could be the case that some of these methods are significantly more effective than others which could affect the statistics, but I doubt by this much.
Also I’m not aware that suicide has changed in acceptability in the UK in recent decades. It was never considered acceptable (unlike say in Japan).
So I’m still inclined to regard suicide as a better proxy of extreme mental health problems than anything else. (That said, I’m not an expert at all in this area.)
Hi bfinn, maybe have a listen to this episode of the Freakonomics podcast: http://freakonomics.com/podcast/new-freakonomics-radio-podcast-the-suicide-paradox/
It’s one of the things that shaped my view that cross-country differences in suicide are best explained by culture rather than underlying happiness.
Actually there has been one change in method—in 1998 it was made illegal to sell large quantities of paracetomol, to make casual suicide harder. The suicide rate has been falling since but there was no sudden drop, so I’m not sure we can attribute much effect to that.