This article from new Scottish website, Bella Calledonia, looks at a new film which points out that in 2017, the latest year for which we have the figures, 680 people committed suicide in Scotland. 522 of them were men and 158 were women. In the same period, it’s unknown how many people attempted suicide and survived. It remains a taboo subject, and for everyone who has survived and sought help, there will be many others still privately bearing the grief and despair that drove them to the act in the first place.
“Suicide reflects something that is broken”, writes Dougie Strang. “I’ve spoken to psychiatrists and therapists who try to help people in distress. They invariably tell me that you can’t treat people in isolation: those who suffer depression and suicidal thoughts might do so because of illness, financial stress, a failed career, a broken heart, but each suicide happens in the context of a society that is itself in distress”.
The full article can be read here.
