THE organisers of a health conference about suicides have accused a TV illusionist of trivialising a major social problem.

Tomorrow night, illusionist Derren Brown is scheduled to play Russian Roulette with a loaded gun live on Channel 4, at 9pm.

Dr Chris Stevenson, of the University of Teesside, which is organising a conference on responses to suicide, on October 21, said the televised stunt "trivialised" a very serious matter.

Teesside has one of the highest suicide rates in the country, with young, single, unemployed men most at risk.

There were 117 suicides on Teesside between 1997-98, three-quarters of them men.

According to official figures, suicide is now the biggest single cause of death among men aged 25 to 34 in the area.

The suicide rate has doubled since the early 80s, while for women it has almost halved.

Dr Stevenson said: "Having interviewed people who have worked through an existential crisis - facing up to life and death and coming out the other side with a great deal of professional and family support - they would feel insulted by seeing someone literally play with life or death, which seems to be what this guy is doing.

"I think it is quite disrespectful to people who have been in that position."

Her concerns were echoed by the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP).

In a statement, the BACP said that if the stunt was successful and Darren Brown escaped unscathed, the dangerous message would then be carried to young men that "guns are glamorous, risk-taking is masculine, depression is cool and suicide is sexy".

Alan Jamieson, deputy chief executive of the BACP, said: "Throwing knives in the circus is one thing - mimicking a public execution on live TV is potentially a freedom too far.

"We know how alienated and depressed many young males feel.

"They don't need this implicit counsel of despair."