FORGIVE me for being morbid, but if I were to ask you what is the biggest killer of young men in this country today I wonder if you would know?

You may be surprised to learn the answer isn't road accidents, not is it homicide or drug or alcohol abuse.

The fact is the most common cause of death for men in the 19-34 age group is suicide and the numbers have risen over the past 20-years.

This is one of the most worrying facts to emerge in research which forms part of a national suicide prevention strategy, aimed at cutting overall suicides by 20 per cent by the year 2020.

In all the brouhaha surrounding the Hutton Report I think many commentators lost sight of the fact that it was the suicide of Dr David Kelly that actually led to the inquiry in the first place.

It was plain for anyone to see the devastation the act caused the family and friends that Dr Kelly left behind. Multiply that by 4,000 - the number of suicides in England each year - and you can see why a national reduction strategy is a good idea.

Of course, the most difficult part of forming a prevention strategy is the fact that you cannot actually ask people why they have committed suicide.

But by analysing the background circumstances we can draw some conclusions as to which sectors of society are the most vulnerable and where resources should be focused.

There are some simple steps that can be taken, such as putting Samaritan posters up at railway bridges (pictured) or devising prison cell interiors in such a way that nooses cannot be attached.

But there are also steps that public bodies, private businesses and the general public can take and I was pleased to discover the Tees and North East Yorkshire NHS Trust is devising a multi-agency approach to increasing public awareness of the problem in order to hopefully reduce the number of suicides locally.

For young people it can be the stress of trying to keep up with their peers. They are in a 'must have' society where everything is available on credit and massive debt can be built up.

Add to that the emotional traumas young people endure and it becomes clear why they can feel cast out, alone, excluded from society. Worried with seemingly nowhere to turn.

But it is not just the young who suffer from modern day stress. The dog eat dog world we seem to have created, massive mortgages and domestic strife can hit the middle-aged hard.

If you are in such a situation or you know of someone in such dire straits. then the most important message to get across is that help is available.

Give the Samaritans a call or talk to your GP. It certainly cannot make things any worse.

Published: 06/02/2004