The Australian Government's report on suicide, “The Hidden Toll: Suicide in Australia" details the impact of suicide on the community, highlighting the fact that we still have major problems reporting, treating and understanding the issues.

Suicide is more common than thought, or reported on in the media - at least six lives are lost to suicide every day in Australia. There are around 2000 suicides in Australia annually, a result of 60,000 attempts. These deaths account for 1.5 per cent of all Australian deaths and are the 15th leading cause of death.

Even more alarming is that actual suicide rates are estimated to be 50 to 60 per cent higher than the official rate, but additional figures aren’t reported by family members and doctors often due to the perceived stigma associated with suicide.

Why does suicide occur?

Suicide can occur when people who are suffering a great deal of intense mental and emotional pain consider death a way out. In many cases it is not the idea of death that is appealing, but the perceived opportunity to end suffering.

Suicide is often precipitated by mental health conditions such as depression, though this does not have to be the case. Significant life changes can also increase the risk factors for suicide.

Lifeline lists some of these situations as:

• Recent loss : of a loved one, job, income or livelihood, a pet or home;
• Major disappointment: failed exams, missed job promotions;
• Change in circumstances: retirement, redundancy, children leaving home;
• Mental disorder or physical illness: depression or chronic disease;
• Suicide of a family member, friend of public figure; or
• Financial and/or legal problems.

What are the costs of suicide?

Primarily, the costs of suicide are social. However, suicide also has an economic impact similar to other chronic illnesses or injuries.

Social

Suicide accounts for as few as 1 in 10,000 people, yet every suicide has a ripple effect on family, friends, work colleagues, neighbours, school friends and the entire wider community. Following the death of a loved one, these people face a higher risk of losing friendship networks, having employment problems and facing a greater risk of suicide themselves.

It’s hard to estimate the exact human cost of suicide, but one organisation involved in The Hidden Toll report found that 43 people were directly emotionally affected by the suicide of one teenage boy in their community.

The report listed some of the lasting psychological effects on people left behind by a suicide, including:

• Having more difficulties understanding the meaning of the death;
• Experiencing guilt and blame (from self and others) for not preventing the death;
• Feelings of rejection;
• Isolation and abandonment;
• Anger towards the deceased; and
• A complicated grief process and much slower recovery.

All of these symptoms of psychological distress cause people left behind to have an impaired ability to function in their lives and in their work.

The Hidden Toll found that in many instances of suicide, the bereaved “left their employment when the suicide occurred, and reported feeling as though they could no longer live in the home they shared with the loved one or even the same city or town.” The effect that this has on business is immediately comparable with the most complicated stress-related illness and claims.

Economic

In Australia we have not had an independent assessment of the economic cost of attempted and completed suicide. However, The Hidden Toll  listed some limited estimations of the economic costs, and makes a good case for a future Government-led study:

• “Lifeline highlighted recent research, re-evaluating the cost of human lives lost in car accidents in 2009, which estimated the average cost of a life lost in a car accident at $6 million. If a similar cost value was assumed for each of the approximately 2000 deaths by suicide each year in Australia the total cost would be around $12 billion per year.”

• The Suicide is Preventable submission suggested a number of possible components for costing suicide and self harm in Australia. These included the total number of suicides, lost production value, the cost of ambulatory services, years of life lost due to premature mortality, productivity losses for survivors, cost of insurances and superannuation claims, the cost of prevention and intervention programs. They proposed that “a conservative estimate for the economic cost of suicide and suicidal behaviour in the Australian community is $17.5 [billion] every year.”

Though the social and emotional cost of suicide to a community probably cannot be outweighed, an economic analysis of the costs attributed to suicide can help bring the issue to the forefront of health policy agenda and public awareness, as well as help employers to minimise its effects in their workplace.

Suicide in the workplace

As suicide affects people across all walks of life, it is inevitable that it will impact on the workplace. Ill or Injured workers face a greater risk of suicide, as do those facing unemployment, work-related problems or possibly even a protracted workers’ compensation claim.

Sir Mansel Aylward recently said that, “Suicide rates of young men who are out of work for six months increase by 40 times,” and “increases the general suicide rate six times.”

Employers can learn to identify the risks amongst their healthy and injured employees, ensuring treatment is accessed before devastating social and financial consequences are met. Read this article for ways to look out for and deal with signs of suicide in your workplace.