Poorer middle-aged men most at risk from suicide in pandemic, say Samaritans
Middle-aged men from poor backgrounds have been identified as potential “hidden victims” of the Covid-19 pandemic, and urgent government intervention is required to protect them, the Samaritans charity has warned.
Analysing feedback from 1,920 volunteers who have worked for its helpline throughout the lockdown, the charity called on ministers to introduce measures to help protect this group, which it says is the most at risk from suicide, but also the least likely to seek help.
Suicide prevention and mental health, it says, need to be a central component of the government’s coronavirus recovery strategy.
Insights from the Samaritans’ volunteers confirm that the lockdown’s impact on support networks has been amplified by loneliness, financial pressures and uncertainty about the future.
Jacqui Morrissey, the charity’s director of research, said: “From a suicide perspective, low-income middle-aged men have had significantly high rates for many years.” Samaritans are receiving more than 7,000 requests for help a day, with a third directly relating to coronavirus. “We know already that people are struggling and that mental health for many is deteriorating. We’re hearing a lot more from people who are very anxious. We’re seeing high levels of distress,” added Morrissey.
The charity has launched a study with the University of Glasgow to try to map the real-time impact of the pandemic on mental health, suicidal thoughts and cases of self-harm.
On Thursday it emerged that more than a dozen people a day killed themselves in England and Wales last year as suicides rose by 11% compared with 2018. New Ministry of Justice figures confirmed that men were significantly more likely than women to kill themselves: males accounted for 77% of suicide verdicts.
Previous research by the Samaritans has pinpointed the risk further, identifying the highest suicide rate being among men aged 45-49. It also found that men from low socioeconomic backgrounds living in deprived areas were 10 times more likely to die by suicide than men from high
socioeconomic backgrounds living in the most affluent areas.
Darran Latham, 39, from Liverpool, a Samaritans volunteer, said the callers he had spoken to had cited coronavirus as amplifying existing risk factors.
“People may have been lonely before coronavirus but the pandemic has just magnified everything 10 times,” he said.
• In the UK and Irish Republic contact Samaritans on 116 123 or email jo@samaritans.org.
• In the US the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is 1-800-273-8255.
• In Australia the crisis support service Lifeline is 13 11 14.
• Other international suicide helplines can be found at www.befrienders.org