A new study suggests that the number of homicides committed by people with mental health problems has fallen drastically in the last three decades and has now reached an historic low.
The study, published in The British Journal of Psychiatry, shows that since the 1970s the number of homicides committed by people with mental health problems has fallen by two thirds. The annual number of homicides due to mental illness rose from under 50 in 1957 to above 100 in the 1970s, peaking in 1979. But in 2000 the rate had dropped to an all-time low to just 0.07 per 100,000 population – despite the rise in the number of other homicides.
The report concludes that the decline in the number of mental health-related homicides “may have been due to improvements in psychiatric treatments and service organisation”.
For more information, go to: bjp.rcpsych.org
Suicide rate in England at record low
The 2007 Annual Report of the National Suicide Prevention Strategy for England has reported that the suicide rate for England is at an all-time low.
The three-year average overall suicide rate in England was 8.3 deaths per 100,000, compared with the previous three-year average of 8.5.
There also continues to be a sustained fall in the rate of suicides among young men aged 20-34, with a drop of 7.5% between 2003-05 and 2004-06.
For more information, visit: www.nimhe.csip.org.uk