The Health Issue Of Suicide - 2015 Words

The prominent health issue of suicide is causing much pain and anxiety to Australians from all walks of life. Suicide is closely linked to the serious mental illness depression which in sad cases can drive people to take their own life. This report will show that the prevalence of suicide is higher in the lowly populated rural and remote areas of Australia, when compared to the highly populated urban areas and it will seek to answer why this is the case. There have been a number of initiatives put in place trying to improve the rates of suicide and depression in rural and remote areas. Judd, Cooper, Fraser and Davis (2006) believe that comparative factors such as the closeness of health and wellbeing centres, shared stigmas attached to†¦show more content†¦In Australia people who live in rural and remote areas are more likely to commit suicide than those who live in urban areas. Metropolitan areas have greater access to services and there are more educational awareness initi atives dealing with suicide and depression, living in these areas is good because the government provides a lot of information on how to get help. It shows that the health sector is working better in urban areas because on average 25.1 people commit suicide per 100,000 when in rural and remote areas the number is 38.2 according to Wilkinson Gunnell, (2000) that’s a massive 13.1 extra lives being lost to suicide per 100,000, this shows the need for more policies to be implemented in these areas. According to Kolves, K. Milner, A. McKay, D. and De Leo, D (2012) rural males have the highest rate of suicide with the farmers, indigenous and youth population groups in rural areas having high mortality rates due to suicide. Mindframe (2014) suggests that the media has a role in shaping the way Australians view depression and suicide, this is working with advertisements educating people that there is help for depression and suicide, Beyond Blue and the Suicide Hot Line are organis ations which are often seen advertising on television. These initiatives are trying to educate both metropolitan and non-metropolitan people that there is help out there but the