Hansard

I add my voice to the united message that this whole Parliament must send out today: every suicide—which is a tragedy for the individual involved, their family, friends and society more widely—is preventable. All of us, across all parties, are committed to working towards a situation in which deaths from suicide are reduced, minimised and, ultimately, never happen. We all want Scotland to have the best possible health and support services, and for those who are suicidal, and their families, to be able to access those services as easily and early as possible.

My colleague Annie Wells highlighted recent Scottish statistics that show that the number of suicides has risen for the first time in six years. We must make sure that that is a one-off, not a trend. Alison Johnstone also told us how the suicide rate is rising.

With the previous strategy having expired in 2016, a new suicide prevention strategy for Scotland is long overdue. It is for ministers to respond to the criticisms that have been made that the current suicide prevention strategy ran out at the end of last year and the new one is not yet in place. We need it sooner, rather than later.

Throughout the debate, the importance of suicide prevention work at a local level has been mentioned by my colleagues. Suicide is the single biggest killer of men under the age of 50 in the UK, and people including Clare Haughey, Brian Whittle and Kenneth Gibson are right to say that we need to tackle the stigma, particularly among men, that makes them unable to talk about it. It is not right that we say, “man up” or, “men should never cry”; that is unacceptable in 21st century Scotland.

There are excellent examples of voluntary services working with men across Scotland, including the Men’s Shed association in Musselburgh in my region, which responds to men’s need to come together to talk about what goes on in their lives and provides an opportunity for them to work through those issues. It is not only men—women also need opportunities to talk. I know that the minister visited the Juno project in Edinburgh, which works with ladies with postnatal depression. That, again, is an issue that is too often hidden and about which society is not willing to talk.

I urge the Scottish Government to act on the calls from Samaritans to increase support for local suicide prevention work by providing resource and leadership. I agree with Fulton MacGregor and Alex Cole-Hamilton that we need to see far more done to tackle mild and moderate mental health problems that can develop into more serious conditions and suicidal tendencies if the people presenting with the initial problem fail to access the right treatment and support, or fail to get that support because of long delays. They are then more likely to go on and try to commit suicide.

Suicide is now the leading cause of death in teenage girls worldwide and the rate of suicide in 15 to 24-year-olds in Scotland has risen over the past three years. I am sure that we were all moved by the contribution from Willie Coffey and wish the best to his constituent’s family as they go on raising money and telling the story.

Education on mental and emotional wellbeing can act as prevention and early intervention. The Scottish Youth Parliament has provided helpful research in that area. The Scottish Conservatives would expand mental health education in schools so that young people know what support is available at the earliest possible time and know that there are people within their area to whom they can talk.

Finlay Carson spoke about the particular issues in rural Scotland. I will be interested to hear what the minister has to say with regard to that.

We have heard heartbreaking stories of suicide and the families and communities affected by it. We must look to see how we can give the right support to prevent that.

While we can expect some year-on-year fluctuations, we cannot ignore any rise in deaths in 2016 that would suggest a direct correlation between the lack of a robust suicide prevention strategy and the number of deaths from suicide. I urge the Government to push ahead with the new strategy, working in partnership with key partners, including those in the third sector, to develop a plan that enables people who are suicidal, and their families, to access those services as easily and early as possible. I am sure that the minister and her Government will get the full support of all parties if she brings such a strategy to the chamber, and I look forward to seeing it in due course.