Alcohol and suicide
Submitted by Edie
- 24 February 2022
Drinking alcohol can increase someone's risk of dying by suicide. This is connected to both the impact of long-term alcohol use and the immediate effects of drinking.
Samaritans and Suicide Prevention Consortium have conducted research exploring what the relationship between alcohol and suicide looks like for people living in England, in their own words.
Key findings:
- There is no ‘one-size-fits-all’. The best support people received acknowledged their personal circumstances and made them feel trusted and listened to. Unfortunately, many people did not receive this level of care.
- For many people, alcohol is part of a bigger picture. They described drinking alcohol as a way of coping with issues involving their mental health, trauma or suicidal thoughts.
- Some people who had attempted suicide were dismissed or judged by healthcare staff due to drinking alcohol.
- There’s a need for further exploration of people’s experiences of alcohol and suicide, so that voices of lived experience are at the centre of policymaking.
Links