There has been a continued fall in suicide rate among young men. The national suicide rate is at its lowest ever level, Care Services Minister Ivan Lewis announced today following publication of the latest progress report from the National Institute for Mental Health in England.

There has been a continued fall in suicide rate among young men. The national suicide rate is at its lowest ever level, Care Services Minister Ivan Lewis announced today following publication of the latest progress report from the National Institute for Mental Health in England. The report also expressed continued concern about the dangers of insensitive media reporting following events in Bridgend.

The 2007 Annual Report of the National Suicide Prevention Strategy for England highlights progress made over the last year:

• The overall suicide rate in England 3 year average was 8.3 deaths per 100,000 population compared with the previous 3 year average of 8.5
• There continues to be a sustained fall in the rate of suicides among young men aged 20-34, a drop of 7.50% between 2003-05 and 04-06
• There were 145 suicides among mental health in-patients in 2005 compared with 157 in 2004.
• There were 1277 suicides among people in contact with mental health services in 2005, compared to 1308 in 2004.

However it also showed that:

• There were 82 self inflicted deaths in prisons in 2007/08 compared with 71 in 06/07.
  

While much progress has been made in the reporting of suicide by the media, many journalists and editors remain unaware of either general or in-house reporting guidelines on suicide.