By Dan Johnson, Clinical director, Kibble Education and Care Centre

THE recent revelation, in a survey led by Glasgow University, that one in nine young Scots say they have tried to kill themselves drew an understandably shocked response in the media. This newspaper’s leader said it was an “extraordinary figure” and called for the word “prevention” to be printed three times on the front page of the Scottish Government’s plan to tackle the issue. But sadly, the statistic came as no great surprise to professionals working with young people looked after in care, where the picture is even darker.

A report by Cardiff University last year found that a quarter of these young people had considered killing themselves, and that they were three times more likely than their peers in the general population to try to end their own lives.

Suicide is an incredibly complex behaviour, influenced by many things. There is very seldom one reason why young people end their own lives, but those who have experienced regular and significant adversity and trauma in childhood are much more likely to attempt it – and there is strong evidence that children who are looked after have suffered a much higher rate of adverse experiences than their peers.

The solution must start with the prevention of such experiences, and it’s the responsibility of the entire community, from family and schools to politicians and police.

Care agencies need to have a very clear policy fully informed by young people’s views, and that requires to be supported and implemented by people who are competent and able to put that policy into place.

There has been some good work in suicide prevention in the last few years, with training initiatives like the suicide alertness scheme safeTalk and Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training (Asist), both of which are available to anyone from mid-teens onwards, but more can always be done.

For example, it makes sense for schools to have teachers trained in how best to explore suicide issues with young people. We must create an ethos where inquiring about young people’s suicidal thoughts is not taboo. People can often feel that they’re going to make situations worse if they inquire, whereas that is very rarely if ever true.

There is no doubt that adult difficulties have a lot to do with what you’ve experienced as a child. Looked-after kids are much more exposed to adversity, and they have many difficulties, suicide being the most extreme – but also homelessness, drug abuse, unemployment and violence.The effect of difficult experiences can be compounded as they’re more likely to be isolated from networks that can act as protective factors, like sports clubs and employment opportunities.

Employment is an important factor, and that is understood by the introduction of social enterprises like Social Bites and my own organisation’s Kibbleworks – which can give a feeling of worth and a contribution to society.

We need early intervention to prevent adversity and the creation of future difficulties, but we also mustn’t forget those who have already been through it, with a well-resourced and effective response.

The funding of early intervention is an investment in the future and is an example of politicians being proactive rather than reactive to a current crisis issue that is making newspaper headlines.

We need to somehow prevent children being exposed to domestic violence and household mental illness. We need to help families break that cycle of members being exposed to this adversity through the generations, and to do that we need resources in communities for those who are most socially deprived.