Always an alternative to self-destruction

I was heartened to read during the week that the number of suicides among some categories of people is down by a few percentage points on last year.

But a statistic, however reassuring, can’t cloud over the grief and heartbreaking loss visited on the families of those who took their lives. Nor should it remotely be seen as a cause for complacency. Maybe more people are now listening, and realise there is always an alternative to self-destruction.

If everyone kept a look-out for friends and relatives they believed to be going through a bad patch, it would help.