Interesting Facts

According to a study by MindFull, nearly a third of young people in the UK have contemplated or attempted suicide. (Their research showed that 32% of young Britons have had suicidal thoughts, while a similar proportion (29%) of young adults deliberately harmed themselves as teenagers. And more than one in 10 (12%) felt a failure almost every day when they were under 16. 1 in 5 young people were depressed during childhood, with pressure from school work, fear of the future and lack of confidence all cited as factors. The taboo over talking about mental health problems in the UK is preventing children from getting the help they need. The Mindull organisation is attempting to address some of the issues facing young people in the UK.) I'm not going to plus one this, because it's just too - depressing.

According to a survey, suicide rates go up in the spring. (They also go up during an economic downturn, and there are a couple of other known risk factors - being a man, a doctor and a smoker. So as it's spring, and being that we're in a recession, if you're a male, smoking doctor, please try to think positive. The survey was conducted by Keith Hawton of Oxford University and Kees van Heeringen of University Hospital, Gent, and published in the British medical journal The Lancet.)

According to a report in the British Journal of Psychology, the number of suicides in England and Wales fell by about 40 percent after the July 2005 London bombings. (This echoes a trend recorded after the attacks on September 11, 2001, in New York, where suicide rates also dropped by about the same percentage. Psychologists believe traumatic national events such as these help potentially suicidal people to feel less alone and more a part of society. Or maybe they just realise how sacred life is.)