September 10 is suicide prevention day. A study from the Center for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) says there is a connection between alcohol and suicide. High levels of alcohol intake are associated to increased rates of suicide. This explains the cause-and-effect relationship between the amount of alcohol consumed and the rate of suicides in the population.

Robert Mann, senior scientist at CAMH led the study, which looked at "alcohol-related factors" affecting suicide mortality figures in Ontario.

Mann and his researchers found that as the rate of intake of alcohol levels increase, so do the number of suicide deaths. They also found that suicide mortality increased along with a rise in unemployment as well. However, an increase of AA membership was found to decrease suicide rates.

Mann told the CNW, "These results suggest that a 1-liter increase in alcohol consumption led to an increase of 11% to 39% in suicides. This observation is consistent with individual-level studies that show that heavy drinking, alcohol abuse and alcohol dependence increase a person's risk of suicide substantially. Similarly, increasing unemployment rates increased suicide rates as well. However, it was heartening to see that increasing AA membership was related to reduced suicide mortality rates."

Interestingly, there were some gender differences that were found; one of them was that the correlation between alcohol factors and suicide rates were stronger in women than in men.

Mann said, "Other research shows that introducing substance use policies can have an important beneficial effect on suicide mortality rates. Our research results provide support for the potential of substance-related policy measures, particularly those related to alcohol, to influence suicide rates."