The number of suicides in Scotland has fallen for the fifth year in a row but middle-aged men are still most likely to take their own life, according to new figures.
Official statistics showed there were 672 probable suicides registered in Scotland in 2015, down from 696 the previous year.
Deaths from suicide over the six years from 2009 to 2014 totalled 4,464, according to the latest Scottish suicide information database.
Almost three-quarters (73%) were male, with 1,546 deaths among men aged between 35 and 54.
There were also 174 suicides by children and young people aged between five and 19 between 2009 and 2014.
Suicides were around three times more likely among those living in the most-deprived areas than those in better-off areas, with 1,376 deaths over the six-year period in the poorest communities compared to 488 in the least deprived areas.
Just over a quarter (26.7%) of people who committed suicide had been to a hospital accident-and-emergency (A&E) department in the three months before they died, with 9% having been to A&E on several occasions.
The majority (58.8%) had been prescribed treatment for mental-health problems in the year prior to their death.
The figures prompted the Samaritans to call for more to be done to tackle the links between suicide and deprivation.
James Jopling, executive director for Scotland, said: "The loss of each one of these 672 lives is a uniquely deeply-felt and personal tragedy which will have had a devastating effect on families and communities right across Scotland.
"It's clear, however, that some people are unequally bearing this burden.
"Despite success in bringing down suicide rates in Scotland over the past decade, the difference in the rates between the most and least-deprived people in Scotland persists.
"It is simply not tolerable that the risk of a person taking their own life is substantially increased according to how disadvantaged they may be.
"Suicide is an unjust and avoidable difference in length of life that results from being less affluent. This demands our attention and further action.
"We welcome the Scottish Government's continuing focus in addressing the rate of suicide in Scotland.
"I would, however, urge them to make tackling the link between deprivation and suicide a priority within this strategy."
Professor Steve Platt, Emeritus Professor of Health Policy Research at the University of Edinburgh and chair of the Scottish Suicide Information Database steering group, said: "Despite considerable success in reducing suicide in Scotland in recent years, suicide deaths still occur disproportionately amongst people in certain groups such as men, the middle-aged, those who do not have a partner and those who live in areas of socio-economic disadvantage.
"Many of these deaths will have occurred among people with acute psychiatric needs but who are unknown to specialist mental health services.
"The findings in these reports highlight the importance of recognising and addressing the pattern of social and economic circumstances among people who take their own lives."
Labour inequalities spokeswoman Monica Lennon said: "These figures should be a cause of real concern for all of us and the Samaritans have rightly called on the SNP government to tackle link between deprivation and death by suicide.
"If we are to prevent more deaths and spare more families the pain of dealing with a death by suicide, more must be done to provide targeted support in the most-deprived areas.
"Instead, under the SNP we have seen a pattern develop on mental health - warm words but no meaningful action and scores of missed targets for mental health treatment.
"We can start to reverse this trend by using the powers of the Scottish Parliament to stop the cuts to public services."
Liberal Democrat health spokesman Alex Cole-Hamilton said: "When someone takes their own life, the impact on families and communities is absolutely devastating.
"We need to ensure that we are doing everything we can to give people struggling with suicidal thoughts the urgent help they need.
"Early intervention is crucial to helping people manage episodes of mental ill-health but patients still face long waits for treatment.
"Some children and young people are still being forced to wait more than a year for specialist care.
"Spending on mental health as a share of the NHS budget has fallen again and again. This is a national scandal.
"The fact that the Scottish Government appointed a mental health minister is welcome. She now needs to deliver the step change in mental health services that is so desperately required."
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