Nine-year-old 'at risk of suicide' as report casts light on mental health

Concerns raised: Police want more action taken to prevent suicide.© Deadline

A study by police has cast new light on suicide in Scotland, including a nine-year-old child who was deemed at risk of taking their own life.

The project by Tayside Police revealed that while the area has an average of four suicides a month, there can be as many as 150 suicide-related incidents over the same period.

Detective Chief Inspector Gordon Milne has told a BBC Scotland programme that the findings are a wake-up call for organisations who work with vulnerable people.

He said of the figures: "Extend that out across the whole of Scotland; there is a significant number of calls every day, every week, every month, every year, involving people who are in mental health crisis.

"It is a significant issue and I think it's a significant issue not only for the police and the other emergency services but for society in general. This would appear to be the first time that we've actually measured in its true sense what impact this is having."

The programme was given access to a police study in which information about every attempted or threatened suicide was compiled.

The programme claims that, in some cases, police have no option but to arrest those in trouble and lock them up in a cell for their own safety as a last resort.

Mental health charity the Scottish Association for Mental Health (SAMH) called for more dedicated services to help those in crisis, in the wake of the programme's findings. It said there is no clear route for people who are suicidal to get help.

Kirsty Keay, the charity's national programme manager for suicide prevention, said: "Suicide devastates Scotland's communities and there is clearly a gap in the services that are available.

"Psychiatric and community mental health services do their best to help, as do the police. But we need to work together - the voluntary sector, police, NHS, Scottish Government and local authorities - to give people a place to turn to when they are desperate."

In 2010 there were 781 deaths by suicide in Scotland, where rates remain the highest in the UK, according to the charity.

Contact the Samaritans for emotional support on 08457 90 90 90.

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