Clear links between alcohol and increased suicide rate in Northern Ireland

Wednesday 29 June 2011

The growing problem of suicide in Northern Ireland has been found to have strong links with alcohol misuse, with sixty percent of suicides thought by their doctors to have been misusing, and half of these to have been dependent.

Dr Uzma Huda, Vice Chair of the Royal College of Psychiatrists in Northern Ireland, welcomed the recommendation for a minimum pricing scheme for alcohol as a key step in tackling the problem.

The report forms part of the National Confidential Enquiry into Suicide and Homicide by People with Mental Illness, a UK-wide project based at the University of Manchester.