Support group calls for action to reduce suicide rate in Cumbria

The number of suicides in Cumbria is above the national average, and the Cumbria Partnership NHS Trust is offering support and advice in a bid to help reduce this figure.

Sara Munro Director of Quality and Nursing at the Trust, says looking after mental health is "everyone's responsibility", but that the NHS can provide specialist support:

The rate of suicide amongst men is considerably higher than amongst women, and Sara says this can be down to notions like 'masculinity':

Throughout Mental Health Awareness Week, ITV Border will be running a series of reports about mental health issues in Cumbria, Dumfries and Galloway and the Scottish Borders.

The first support focuses on suicide, and calls from a local charity to provide more help to people with mental health issues in the region.

If you are affected by the issues covered, the following organisations can provide help and support:

• MIND - Mental health charity that provides information and advice
• Papyrus - Prevention of Young Suicide
• Samaritans - 24-hour support line
• Cumbria Partnership NHS Foundation Trust - information about suicide, Mental Health Awareness Week, and what you can do to help

"Every week we lose a Cumbrian to suicide".

That's the message from Cumbria's branch of SOBs, the Survivors of Bereavement by Suicide charity.

The group says that between 2011 and 2013, 162 people took their own lives in the county, and they're calling for more to be done to help.