A quarter of all deaths of young people are linked to suicide

dailyrecord.co.uk:

Calls have been made to enhance support of young people’s mental health after a report revealed suicide is the leading cause of death among children and young adults.‘Suicide among young people in Scotland’ was published earlier this month and it makes for grim reading.The report, prepared using data on probable suicides registered with the National Records of Scotland, says that a quarter (25.7 per cent) of all deaths among five to 24 year olds were probable suicides.

This compares with 1.2 per cent of all deaths among those aged 25 and over.Don't miss the latest headlines from around Renfrewshire.

Sign up to our newsletters here.Crucially, the report states that five to 24 year olds were significantly less likely to have had contact with a healthcare service in the period before death than people aged 25 and over.Overall, 65.6 per cent of those in the younger age bracket had contact compared with 79.8 per cent of those aged 25 and over.West Scotland MSP Paul O’Kane has called for more action to support the mental health of young people.The Scottish Labour politician said: “It’s vital that there is a compassionate focus on improving support for young people’s mental health and the most practical way to do that is to ensure that people who are struggling with their mental health can be seen by services on demand, and that will require urgent action from the Scottish Government.”The Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) waiting times were published on the same day as the report.Renfrewshire Live, the new free app dedicated to bringing you around the clock breaking news, is now available to download.Powered by the Paisley Daily Express, Renfrewshire Live is your go-to source for news, features and sport with