Wales: suicide capital of UK

[Aptrgangr]

Wales: suicide capital of UK

IMMEDIATE action must be taken to cut the suicide rate in North Wales experts insisted last night – after it emerged 86 men and women killed themselves in one year.

Figures released in Parliament showed 68 men and 18 women took their own lives in 2006. Although the number was down slightly from 2000, when 88 suicides were recorded in the region, mental health charity Mind’s policy adviser called for a national strategy to be put in place to help reduce the death toll.

The ages of those who committed suicide have not been revealed.
Ruth Coombs, manager for influence and change at Mind Cymru, said Wales was "lagging behind" when it came to tackling the problem.
She added: "There are particular issues for different communities in Wales.
"In rural areas problems with depressions and feelings of isolation are big
issues. There is a lack of access to early intervention.
"The rates have not changed significantly in Wales for many years but we now have the highest rates in the UK because numbers in other areas have fallen dramatically.

"Scotland did have very high rates but they set up a national strategy that has made a significant impact.
"There is also the additional challenge of the Welsh language. Our experience of mental health services is that it’s a particular challenge in North Wales because more people speak Welsh as their first language.
"The Assembly needs to move from considering a strategy to implementing one as soon as possible so we are not receiving a different range of services to the rest of the UK."

Clywd West recorded the highest rate in 2006, with 12 men committing suicide - more than double the number reported in 2000. Ynys Môn had the lowest rate with three men taking their own lives in 2006.
The figures were published following the spate of suicides among young people in South Wales.
Police are investigating the 16 cases in Bridgend since January 2007 where people aged between 15 and 27 have hanged themselves.
The latest cases involved cousins Kelly Stephenson, 20, who was found dead in a locked room on holiday in Kent on Valentine’s Day, and Nathaniel Pritchard, 15.
Madeleine Moon, Bridgend’s MP has claimed social networking websites could have been "romanticising suicide".

Wales: suicide capital of UK - Daily Post North Wales

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[Trefelin]

Bridgend in particular is experiencing a cluster of suicides recently. In the past 18 months, 22 people under the age of 25 have committed suicide.

[Menydh]

Why would speaking Welsh as a first language be related to higher suicide rates?

[Susi]

Not enough vowels?

I think there needs something to be done here, maybe education, but not something patronising.

[Sergius]

Originally Posted by Susi

maybe education, but not something patronising.

Getting defensive, Englænder?

[Susi]

Well just telling kids "suicide is wrong" isn't going to discourage them... it's better to tell them it's pointless and it won't solve any problems. I guess one has to be a little cruel to be kind?

[Trefelin]

Originally Posted by Menydh

Why would speaking Welsh as a first language be related to higher suicide rates?

What they meant was that there are few counselling services available to Welsh speakers when compared to services available to English speakers.

Standards of education in Welsh Language schools, ie, exam results etc are on average 20% higher than those of English Language schools in Wales.

[Trefelin]

Originally Posted by Susi

Not enough vowels?

Welsh vowels = a e i o u w y

[Susi]

I was trying to make a silly joke -_-

[Marulus]

Originally Posted by Susi

Not enough vowels?

In that case the Abkhaz, Adyghes, Cabardians and some other peoples of the North Caucasus should have died out completely by now, having committed a mass-suicide.

[Kalevi]

Originally Posted by Susi

Not enough vowels?

The Finnish nation is open for negotiations about a vowel-consonant trade treaty, in the cause of mutual suicide prevention.

Originally Posted by Marulus

In that case the Abkhaz, Adyghes, Cabardians and some other peoples of the North Caucasus should have died out completely by now, having committed a mass-suicide.

Not to speak about the Srbs and Hrvats.

Hmm, maybe vowels will be our next big export.

[Susi]

-_- The original post was a joke about the overabundance of vowels in Welsh and sort of a suggestion to add more. Vowels/vowelsounds/diphthongs make people happy ^^

[Marulus]

Originally Posted by Kalevi

Not to speak about the Srbs and Hrvats.

Not really. Serbian, Croatian and Slovenian have only the case of the consonant r sometimes used as a vowel, and otherwise an abundance of vowels, whereas the North-West Causasian languages are said to have great many consonants, sometimes juxtaposed, one following another, without any vowels in between. A linguist once told me that upon hearing someone speaking Abkhaz you have an impression it is rather some kind of buzzing of insects than a language (he did not mean anything offensive, since he actually likes those languages).

Originally Posted by Kalevi

Hmm, maybe vowels will be our next big export.

Italians, Spaniards, some Slavic speakers and some Finno-Ugrics maybe have such resources for export, whilst I am not sure about the others.

[M.R.]

Originally Posted by Marulus

Not really. Serbian, Croatian and Slovenian have only the case of the consonant r sometimes used as a vowel, and otherwise an abundance of vowels

True.

Srb is actualy pronounced Sərb (same with Hrvat), it's just that this e is short and doesn't need to be written although in Slovenian language (don't know about Serbs and Croats) sometimes it is.

[Marulus]

The Welsh ll is quite hard to pronounce though.

[Trefelin]

Originally Posted by Marulus

The Welsh ll is quite hard to pronounce though.

People think it's difficult because they've never been properly taught.

It is an unique sound though, try sounding an H and then an L together. All it is is an aspirated L, see easy!