Mental health service contact in 38% of suicides

Nearly four out of 10 people who died by suicide had been in contact with mental health services — most of them "actively" — according to research.

It found that less than one third of people studied were taking their prescribed medication at the time of death.

The research, thought to be the first of its kind in the country, analysed the psychiatric life history of those who died by suicide, as well as their autopsies.