Poor Scots 'twice as likely' to kill themselves - charity

Two people take their own lives in Scotland every day, according to the Scottish Association for Mental Health (SamH) - four times more than are killed in road accidents.

The charity have begun work on a major new campaign, which includes a series of television adverts, in a bid to break the silence over the shocking suicide statistics.

Launching the Two Too Many campaign, SamH chief executive Billy Watson said: "While suicide affects all of Scotland's communities, people living in deprived areas have up to twice the rate of suicide than the national average.

"Suicide rates have reduced since the launch of the Scottish government's Choose Life strategy for suicide prevention, but Scotland does still have a higher suicide rate than elsewhere in the UK, partly because of our higher rates of alcohol and drug misuse.

"The reasons why someone might attempt suicide are very varied, but we know that not everyone who thinks of or attempts suicide actually wants to die - many simply want their pain and distress to end.

"That's why it's so important for people to talk about their feelings and ask for help. Through talking about the issue, SamH believes we can help to prevent suicide."

The charity are asking the public to donate £3 towards training volunteers by texting TALK to 70040.

SamH has trained two-thirds of its 700 staff in suicide intervention skills and in the last year its workers carried out 207 interventions.