No Easy Answers on Youth Suicide

Health Minister Bill English said today solving the underlying causes of youth suicide was extremely difficult and it was not a problem that could be pinpointed as a failing of the health system.

"As a society we need to ask ourselves why so many young people, particularly young males, think that suicide is a way of solving their problems.

"Suicide doesn't happen because of a failing with our health services. It is a much more complex and difficult issue to deal with than that.

"It is extremely difficult to predict why one young person commits suicide when the next one doesn't. We know that most people who commit suicide are depressed, but the overwhelming majority of people who are depressed are not suicidal."

Mr English was commenting on a report on youth suicide from Christchurch that claimed health services were failing young people.

"There is not doubt that this is an issue for our health services and we should always be looking at how we can always do better. But it is also an issue for each of us. We all have a responsibility for helping people in despair.

"The Government does take this issue seriously. A number of new initiatives are specifically focussed on youth mental health. In the last financial year $15.2m from the Mason money was spent on new mental health services, of which more than $3m was spent on new child and youth services.

"In the current financial year the Health Funding Authority will spend $10.8m of the $67m additional government funding on mental health services for children and young people.

"Guidelines for schools were released last year to improve the awareness and referral of distressed students. This year the Ministry of Youth Affairs is planning to develop guidelines for general practitioners so they can do a better job of identifying and helping young people who may be considering suicide.

"We need to increase the skills of those who work in the mental health services with young people and this year there are several new training diplomas set up around the country specifically to do this," said Mr English.