BLOG | Deaths from suicide in Liverpool

On World Suicide Prevention Day, Director of Public Health, Professor Matt Ashton, writes about how Liverpool is tackling the issue…

The latest official figure for suicide in Liverpool indicates that in 2023 there were 69 deaths in the city. This is higher than the previous years, higher than the average for England and similar to the average in the North West and across Cheshire and Merseyside where sadly rates are amongst the highest in the country.

The number of deaths has remained high since the pandemic and the increase appears driven by the ongoing impact of pressures that persist on people's income, employment, health, relationships and sense of isolation with more people struggling to cope in negative ways by relying on drugs, alcohol and violent and criminal behavior. Many of these risk factors often feature in the stories of those that die by suicide, contributing to their sense of hopelessness and their decision to take their own life.

The impact of suicide

Being part of the work to prevent suicide in Liverpool provides a unique insight into the catastrophic impact of each of these deaths on families, workplaces, whole communities and on those working to help and support them. Alfie Fitzsimmons is a 16 year old lad from Liverpool who's life changed forever when at 8 years old he lost his dad to suicide. Alfie's story really highlights the ongoing impact on those left behind. Although he understands things differently now, at the time he blamed himself and thought that maybe if he had been a better son his dad would still be here.

Since then Alfie and his mum Allison have worked tireless to change things for children bereaved by suicide, setting up Alfie's Squad, a safe space to build confidence and friendships with others who share similar experiences.

People still don't talk openly about suicide, it remains a "taboo" subject, but in doing this work we talk about suicide almost every day and it's very rare to meet someone who hasn't been touched in some way by a death from suicide or by someone who has come close to taking their own life.

A common analogy is that every death from suicide, like a stone falling into water, creates ripple effects that impact across the whole lives of those affected to the extent that people bereaved by suicide are sadly more likely to go on to take their own life. These individual tragedies and the far reaching ripple effect added to the reality that suicide can be prevented is why suicide remains a public health priority for Liverpool.

What are we doing about Suicide?

Our work to prevent suicide is growing with more resources and more partners stepping in to support our plans and projects. Through our work across 2024/25 around 5,000 members of the public and people in helping roles in Liverpool developed skills in recognising and responding to the risk of suicide. By working with our voluntary and community sector partners, a further 1,200 vulnerable individuals received support to address suicide risk factors in their lives.

The current rate demonstrates that there is still much to do, so based on our intelligence on suicide in Liverpool, we are targeting our efforts at groups in the population that are vulnerable to suicide, we're installing signage to connect people with emergency help in places where people have taken or attempted to take their own life, we're enabling those that offer support to build their awareness and skills in responding to suicide risk, developing new community projects and supporting existing suicide prevention and crisis and bereavement support organisations that do phenomenal work in Liverpool and developing awareness and information for everyone in Liverpool to know what to do if they experience thoughts of suicide or are concerned about someone they know through our Reach out Liverpool suicide prevention campaign.

What can we all do about suicide?

The fact that we still don't talk openly about suicide is one of the biggest challenges in our work to prevent suicide. Historically suicide was defined as a criminal act and the association with shame persists and reflects in many people's reluctance to open up about it for fear of being judged. There are also many myths and misconceptions about suicide that prevent people from talking about it such as the idea that if you're worried about someone and you ask if they're thinking of suicide, you could give them the idea to take their own life.

The reality and research shows that we don't trigger the idea of suicide by asking about it or talking about it. If you're worried about someone, your instincts that they are struggling are usually right, one of the most helpful and compassionate things you can do is ask them openly, honestly and directly "are you feeling suicidal?" and most of the time you will receive an honest answer. If they aren't thinking of suicide they will likely appreciate your concern and might open up to you about what they are feeling. The most helpful and human thing to do next is listen, without judgement, or feeling you need to know the answer, listening alone is powerful and often enough to help us feel better, there is lots of information about things we can all do to improve our mental health and get help if we need it at KindToYourMindLiverpool.

Someone who is thinking about suicide will usually tell you truthfully and in that moment you have the opportunity to have a conversation that could save a life. You saw the signs, you said the words "are you feeling suicidal" and now you have the opportunity to help them stay safe in the moment and signpost them towards the support they need. This is the basis of our Reach Out Liverpool Suicide Prevention campaign where anyone can access a 20 minute online session to build the awareness and confidence to have this potentially life saving conversation.

Take 20 minutes to mark World Suicide Prevention Day and you could save a life

This blog is part of our efforts to mark World Suicide Prevention Day 2025 which this year aims to 'change the narrative on suicide'.

By visiting our Reach out Liverpool website and taking 20 minutes to learn how to develop your narrative on suicide you can be a part of this movement to prevent suicides and be ready to help someone you meet, or someone you know and care about.