Scotland : Alcohol + Drugs = Suicide

A new report has found that alcohol and drug abuse are making Scots almost twice as likely to commit homicide or kill themselves as compared to people living in England and Wales.

The study conducted by the University of Manchester and commissioned by the Scottish government revealed that there is a proportionate increase in the number of patients suffering from mental disorders committing homicide or killing themselves in Scotland than the rest of Britain.

The report named as “Lessons for Mental Health Care in Scotland" examined all suicides and homicides in the general population in Scotland and found that there were 500 killings north of the border over five years and 5,000 suicides over six years, figures that are almost double those for England and Wales.

The rates of homicide north of the Border were 2.12 per 100,000 people when compared to 1.23 per 100,000 in England and Wales. Meanwhile the suicide rates in Scotland equated to 18.7 per 100,000 of the population, compared with 10.2 per 100,000 in England and Wales. The north-south divide was highest among teenagers, the report found.

In the report, total number of suicides committed by patients was 1,373 and of these cases, 785 had history of alcoholism, an average of 131 deaths per year. There was a history of drug abuse found in 522 cases, or 87 deaths per year.

The report revealed that alcoholism and drug abuse were the very important mental health problems in Scotland.

Louis Appleby, Professor of Psychiatry, said, “Alcohol and drug misuse runs through these findings and it appears to be a major contributor to risk in mental health care and broader society.”

Adding further he said, “The findings suggest that alcohol and drugs lie behind Scotland's high rates of suicide and homicide and the frequency with which they occur as antecedents in our report are striking.”

Kenny MacAskill, Scottish justice minister is expected to announce a ban under-21 years buying alcohol from shops. However, 18-year-olds would be allowed to be served in pubs, bars and clubs.

Last month, a Government paper revealed that alcohol use and abuse by Scots' cost the country £2.25bn in year 2006-07, in terms of crime, damage to the economy and costs to the National Health Service (NHS).

Previous year, NHS gave the stunning figures, showing the amount of alcohol consumed by young children (11 to 13-year-olds) has rocketed in recent years. Girls in this age group revealed that they consumed an average of about 8 units a week in 2006, compared with just under five in 2000.

Meanwhile, boys of the same age claimed to drink an average of 12 units a week in 2006, compared with just eight a week six years earlier.

Another research had found that nearly fifty percent of murders in Scotland are committed by people under the influence of drink or drugs. A report by the World Health Organisation found that Scotland has the second highest murder rate in western Europe.