It's also a fact that our suicide prevention strategies in New Zealand overlook these truths.

A new study by Dr Rose Crossin at the University of Otago, Christchurch, examined data from the longitudinal study of 1265 children born in 1977.

It backed up international research showing people who abuse alcohol are 50 per cent more likely to think about suicide.

Excessive drinking and suicide were "fundamentally interlinked," Crossin said.

"Policies which reduce harmful drinking are suicide prevention policies."

In her study, before controlling for other suicide risk factors - such as trauma, mental health issues and substance abuse - alcohol abuse almost tripled the risk of suicidal thoughts.

"The reason that alcohol use disorder impacts on suicide is quite complex," Crossin said. "One aspect is that alcohol is a depressant so, if you drink alcohol over a long time, it's associated with depression, which is associated with suicide."

Given all these facts, you'd think our national suicide prevention strategy would have focus on alcohol as a major concern.

It doesn't though.

It's a division exemplified by the two being given to completely different ministries to tackle. Alcohol regulatory and licensing are handled by the Ministry of Justice. The Ministry of Health is in charge of suicide prevention.

Crossin said the findings of the study shouldn't be taken lightly for New Zealand, a country with high rates of both dangerous drinking and suicide risk.

In 2020, 21 percent of adults met hazardous drinking criteria, while 607 New Zealanders took their own lives in the year to June 2021.

"Our suicide prevention strategy has some really good stuff, but this is a big part that's missing," she said. "We recommend including alcohol-related interventions in it."

Dr Nicki Jackson, executive director of Alcohol Healthwatch, strongly supports Crossin's view.

"When you're talking about one of the biggest contributors to suicide in our country, we need specific actions," she said. "It's like trying to reduce the road toll without reducing alcohol."

She notes there are already interventions which numerous government-commissioned enquiries have been calling for since 2009.

"The Law Commission's recommendations weren't taken up in 2010, followed by the Mental Health and Addiction Enquiry. If you got to their 40 recommendations around improving mental health and reducing addiction, it's the alcohol recommendations that weren't given priority. They stood out like a sore thumb."

The easy availability of alcohol with home deliveries, its affordability and strong marketing campaigns are issues that need addressing, Jackson said.

Her recommendations as to how to fix this problem echo those Crossin came to in her study.

These include:

Screening for alcoholism must a consistent part of mental health treatment, and vice versa.

Adopting the Smokefree Aotearoa 2025 campaign approach, where actions on price, availability and marketing are the focus.

Pushing the drinking age back up to 20.

Where to get help

1737, Need to talk? Free call or text 1737 to talk to a trained counsellor

Kidsline 0800 54 37 54 for people up to 18 years old. Open 24/7

Lifeline 0800 543 354

Rural Support Trust 0800 787 254

Samaritans 0800 726 666

Suicide Crisis Helpline 0508 828 865 (0508 TAUTOKO)

Youthline 0800 376 633, free text 234, email talk@youthline.co.nz, or find online chat and other support options here

Anxiety New Zealand 0800 ANXIETY (0800 269 4389)

If it is an emergency, click here to find the number for your local crisis assessment team

In a life-threatening situation, call 111

• Newsroom
• Stuff
• Image: Stuff

Scripture gives strong testament to the fact that merely drinking alcohol is not a sin, but getting drunk on alcohol is. Continue reading

Moderator of the Presbyterian Church, the Right Rev Andrew Norton, says the church isn't against alcohol and the community must play a role in providing alcohol-free activities for young people.

But he says the drinking age should to be increased to 20 and effective government policies that reduce the availability of alcohol are needed.

Council by-laws that address alcohol consumption are also important. Continue reading

The Timaru Herald understands she was comatose, but it is not known for how long before an ambulance was called.

The situation was a reflection of the drinking culture in New Zealand, Youth Alley youth worker Kirsty Henderson said.

Leaving the legal drinking age at 18 and ensuring accessibility to a drug that is abused by Kiwis every weekend was a failure of the Government, she said. Continue reading

Every year, almost one million people die from suicide around the world.

Depression is often seen as a disorder of the developed world; mental disorders - in particular depression but also disorders from alcohol misuse - have been clearly linked to suicide in high-income countries.

But depression in low and middle-income countries is also a big problem and the prevalence is not dramatically different from high income countries.

However, reliable data from some regions of the world - notably Africa - is not available.

Suicide is certainly a global problem.

According to a new report from the World Health Organisation - the first time it has published one - some 75% of suicides happen in low and middle-income countries.

Depression is a major risk factor for suicide across the globe.

While many suicides are impulsive, because of issues related to finance, illness and other pain, and particular groups who are more vulnerable, it is striking that studies have shown that depression is a significant risk factor for suicide attempts and the relationship is consistent across all countries (high or low-middle income).

And if someone suffers from multiple mental health problems such as depression, alcohol abuse and impulse control disorders, the risk is even higher.

In the UK investigations suggested two thirds of people with suicidal behaviour are depressed. But depression is rarely in the headlines unless it involves a famous figure.

Although global suicide rates are highest in people older than 70, this is markedly different in particular countries where young people are more likely to take their lives.

Worldwide, it is the second biggest cause of death in 15 to 29-year-olds, and in the UK, it's the most common cause of death in men aged between 20 and 49.

Then there are the attempts, which are estimated to be 20 times more frequent than those that are completed. Continue reading

Sources

• MercatorNet
• Image: PentruViata

The new estimate of 400,000 "alcoholics" in New Zealand - around 10 per cent of our 4.4 million population - was tallied up by Professor Doug Sellman from the National Addiction Centre at the University of Otago.

It is significantly higher than the Ministry of Health's 2006 estimate which says 3 to 6 per cent of the population has an alcohol issue. Continue reading

And According to Nick Cater, a visiting lecturer insights@nzinitiative.org.nz, The wowsers are back on a futile mission to enforce public morality through statute.

In Australia, as in New Zealand, a new temperance movement is testing the boundaries of prohibition to encourage better manners. It advocates restricting the sale of alcohol and increasing the price to control excess consumption.

As with earlier temperance movements, however, a laudable social objective is muddled by a moral crusade. The early twentieth-century temperance movement attempted to impose their version of morality by preaching sobriety; today's moral enforcers want to set the boundaries of appropriate behaviour.

Their justification is an apparent increase in public drunkenness in cities and towns, particularly among the young, and reported incidents of alcohol-fuelled violence. Continue reading

"Liquor bottles," feared both the pastor and Mary Catherine Meek, who worked in the suburban Chicago parish. People caught whiffs of alcohol on Father Ray (not his real name) at Mass. He had undergone treatment for alcoholism before this assignment.

Confronted by the pastor, Father Ray denied relapsing. The pastor expressed his concerns to the diocese.

"Then Father Ray had it out for the pastor because he was getting him in trouble," Meek says. "Father Ray took it upon himself to go out and visit the sick so that he could say, ‘Look, I wouldn't be doing this if I were drinking.' He had the parish secretaries bedazzled with his charm and easygoing humor. He would sit chitchatting for an hour and actually interrupt their work, but he was forming a protective shield around himself."

Unresolved tensions mounted, and the diocese reassigned Father Ray. He was to move a week after Meek left for a retreat. She phoned the parish on the first day of the retreat and heard Father Ray was sick. She suggested someone take soup to him. She called the next day. No one had seen him.

"I said, ‘You guys all live together, you need to check on him.' "

A priest found Father Ray lifeless in his room, which was strewn with bottles and soiled with vomit.

The strife didn't end there. Days afterward, the pastor's teenage niece answered a phone call in the parish office: "We hope the pastor is happy now that he has killed Father Ray!" the caller said. Continue reading

Sources

• U.S. Catholic
• Image: UCA News

Viane Gaga and his family would usually have been attending church last Sunday. But instead, they were at his bedside in hospital.

"They always come to mass every Sunday and throughout the weekdays, so when I received the call I arrived at Middlemore Hospital," says Father Felisi Lemi. "I talked to them and then we prayed."

On Sunday afternoon Viane's life support was turned off and he passed away at 5pm.

Lemi is asking South Auckland youth to be more responsible on the roads - if not for their sake, then for those they leave behind.

"We have to say to them, 'hey, it's time for you to think about your own future for the sake of your own families as well'."

Speed and alcohol were factors in the crash, with the car travelling at 160km/h on State Highway 20 and 100km/h on Massey Rd - a 50km/h zone, Counties Manukau police district commander Superintendent John Tims said.

Source

• 3News
• MSN News
• Image: nz.news.yahoo.com

The proportion who drank more than recommended limits on at least one occasion in the past year ranged from 40 per cent for those aged 55 to 64 to 80 per cent for those aged 18 to 24.

While for some this may be infrequent, for too many New Zealanders this is their usual pattern of consumption.

It's not just this binge-style drinking that is of concern. Problems also arise for people drinking regularly. For a healthy adult, even two or three drinks a day may cause health complications. For those with compromised health, even lower levels may be problematic.

Drinking can easily slide from one of life's pleasures to one of life's problems. Perhaps it's a regular routine that has become a bit heavy, or perhaps you find it hard to place a limit on how much you drink in social situations.

When people are offering you drinks, buying in rounds, there's a competitive edge or an expectation to keep up.

Take a minute to stop and add up how many standard drinks you had in the past week. One standard drink is a 100ml glass of wine, a can of four per cent beer or a pub-poured double spirit (a home-poured double is more likely to be two standard drinks or more).

If you're having more than five standard drinks on any one occasion (four for women), more than 15 a week (10 for women), or fewer than two days without alcohol in a week, it would be a good idea to try to reduce your drinking. Of course, you may already be drinking less than this and want to reduce further.

Here are some ideas about how you might do that.

First, do you even need to have a drink? One of the quickest ways to reduce your intake is to increase the number of non-drinking days you have.

If you are going to drink alcohol, you should always avoid drinking on an empty stomach.

Combining food with alcohol slows down the absorption of alcohol into the bloodstream and gives you something else to do so you may consume less.

Make sure you're not thirsty. Have a non-alcoholic thirst quencher so you're not guzzling alcohol as a reaction to dehydration. Continue reading

Sources

• Simon Adamson in Stuff
• Image: The Telegraph

Associate Professor Simon Adamson is deputy director of the National Addiction Centre and a Christchurch-based clinical psychologist in private practice specialising in alcohol, other drugs and behavioural addictions.

Children in years six, seven and eight were to spend an hour delivering leaflets in return for a $500 donation towards school sports jackets.

The bar and restaurant is owned by Ben Ellis, who also owns a nearby pub, The Quiet Lady.

Ellis said he was trying to help the school by giving students fresh air and exercise as well as money.

However he acknowledged that paying money for a service was not a donation.

A mother of two pupils, who did not want to be named, said the activity was completely inappropriate, especially as the children were aged 10-13.

She said children promoting a business that sold alcohol was "just wrong", particularly given last week's vote on the drinking age.

Continue reading

Sorry.

Perhaps it's ironic that, in seeking release from pain, his life ended in one of the most painful ways possible. Perhaps he's at peace at last.

I met Carl six years ago when I was managing a trust committed to the housing of mentally ill people, and he was seeking accommodation.

He had mental illness, and he wished he hadn't. Paid work was not on his possible list, but he tinkered with old computers and other electronics. Necessary medication was resisted and he was not keen on mental health workers having input into his life. Consumption of alcohol became an important solace and painkiller, and increasingly a gripping addiction. Continue reading

Sources

• Robin Guy in The New Zealand Herald
• Image: AKT

Robin Guy has recently retired after 50 years' involvement in the mental health sector.

According to a report in the Waikato Times, in the past 18 months 72 children with full-blown addictions have been treated by the Waikato District Health Board's child and adolescent addictions services. The youngest of these children was 12 years old.

Rongo Atea manager Shell Brown says she is not surprised at these numbers. "I would have expected more, actually," she said.

"Those numbers didn't come close to showing how big the issue really was, with many children being treated at community facilities such as Rongo Atea. "It's going to take a whole community approach," Brown said.

So far this year they've had 20 young people through the facility - but only six have graduated so far.

Rongo Atea, run by Te Runanga O Kirikiriroa, is a residential treatment facility for teens aged 13 to 17 who have problems with alcohol and substance abuse. Most of the teens come from the greater Waikato or Bay of Plenty

Read Waikato Times Article

Image: Press Association