Sign in. It’s quick, free and it’s up to you.
An account is an optional way to support the work we do. Find out more.
Updated: 13.46
TAOISEACH ENDA KENNY and junior health minister Kathleen Lynch have launched the national strategy for suicide prevention.
‘Connecting for Life’, covers the next five years, and aims to create better links between suicide prevention and mental health services at community level.
Kenny described the plan as “an ambitious strategy which sets a target to reduce suicide and self-harm by 10% over the next five years”.
“As a Government, despite financial constraints, we have maintained and will continue to maintain mental health as a priority. Suicide prevention is everyone’s concern and this strategy is a national plan for the whole of Government and the whole of society to work together.”
The Taosieach added: “Each of us have just one life. We must mind and celebrate it.”
In our case we’re working not just across the whole population but crucially in those particularly vulnerable groups such as our young people, our men in middle age and on people at the transition points in life that make them vulnerable
When we’re grieving over a death or the loss of a relationship. When we lose a job. Or leave school early. Or experience stress at work or in the classroom.
“In all our lives at some point we will either depend on the kindness of family friends strangers. Or we will be the givers of that kindness.
“Just by being there for a friend, a neighbour, who finds that, you know, they just can’t do it themselves at least, we can keep life itself,” Kenny said.
Speaking at the launch, Lynch said mental health is as important as physical health.
“We are finally seeing a breakthrough in some of the recruitment challenges that didn’t allow us to provide as extensive a service as we would like. We are committed to replacing the old central mental hospital with a state of the art National Forensic Hospital which will be operational by 2018.”
Connecting for Life has two primary goals:
It sets the World Health Organisation’s target of a 10% reduction in the rates of suicide by 2020 as the minimum objective.
Lynch said the government is als developing four 30 bed intensive care rehabilitation units in Cork, Galway, Portrane and Westmeath.
“We are supporting organisations that are supporting people in our communities who are stressed, depressed or need to talk.
One size doesn’t fit all in mental health and the range of services reflects this. As part of the suicide strategy, we need to connect with ourselves, our families, our communities and the services that are on offer.
Gerry Raleigh, Director of the National Office for Suicide Prevention (NOSP), said: “No single agency, no single government department, no single individual can reduce suicide on their own. Therefore, we must ensure that we work together to achieve our shared and attainable goal for our nation.”
Central Statistics Office (CSO) data shows that between 2007 and 2011 there was an increase in the suicide rate in Ireland, specifically among men.
Recent figures point to a reduction in the rate of suicide. The CSO confirmed figures for 2012 indicate that 541 people lost their lives by suicide. Provisional figures for 2013 (475 deaths) and 2014 (459 deaths) indicate a decrease in the numbers of deaths by suicide. However, not all suicides are recorded as such for various reasons.
The National Registry of Deliberate Self-Harm indicates that in 2013 there were 11,061 presentations to hospital due to deliberate self-harm. International evidence confirms the presence of mental health issues, particularly depression and anxiety combined with drug and alcohol use, are factors which significantly increase the risk of suicidal behaviour amongst individuals.
Samaritans welcomed today’s announcement, saying it looks forward to “continuing to work with our partners at national and local level to help deliver the new strategy”.
Catherine Brogan, Executive Director of Samaritans Ireland, said: “Suicide is a complex issue which requires action across all sectors of society.
“Samaritans welcomes the whole-of government approach taken in the strategy as many of the public policies which influence suicidal behaviour are outside the health sector. A coordinated policy response has the potential to address the social and economic factors which impact on suicidal behaviour.”
Helplines:
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
There is something sickening about this. He has decimated mental health funding but shows up to support suicide prevention. kenny has also created a hierarchy of abuse victims, slashing funding to rape crisis centers and sealing files on institutional abuse for 75 years, while at the same time putting 5 hours of Dail time aside to debate a single abuse case which happened in another jurisdiction, because there political hay to be made.
Anyone paying attention will realise after a few seconds that governments rely on announcements for key issues that completely ignore the overall situation that creates the issue. It’s textbook Irish politics. There’s also no real point in a politician stating a child has the right to be born, if that politician also doesn’t vote accordingly for the right of a child not to live in consistent poverty with inadequate childcare, related public services, etc. and most of all the right of a child to live in a country where politicians actually display commitment to anything beyond getting elected, getting into government, getting a ministry and getting re-elected. There are reasons for the suicide levels we have in this country and governments have had a very significant role in creating the economic and societal reasons that lead to so many suicides.
Great comment David and For Connolly. hit the nail on the head there.
As someone who recently lost a family member to depression, I urge anyone who is thinking about suicide to please talk to a friend, a family member, a colleague or a help line. Suicide is never the answer.
Samaritans 18 50 60 90 90
1 life Freephone (24hrs) 1800 247 100 or text the word HELP to 51444
http://www.yspi.eu/
fair play Dave. sorry to hear about your family member. cant speak any highly of Samaritans. was involved for a few years
The promotion of lonliness within a society has political roots – this initiative by the Government is welcome but in light of the attack on single parents earning potential yesterday in the Dail then it appears to be somewhat rooted in the “let’s pretend we are human , pretend we care ” bracket.
Stress kills in so many ways and Austerity is European designed and politically party delivered depression to so many families …
Direct provision
Emigration coupled with immigration
Poor childcare provision
The list is endless and we having voted for a Children’s referendum ..
And of course For Connolly’s comment below ….
Bit late for those who couldn’t survive your austerity policies Enda.
Two suicides in Clare last week Ennis acute psychiatric hspt being downsized in Sept/ Oct st Michaels in Tipperary closed down people with drug and alcohol problems admitted to psychiatric wards because there’s no dual diagnosis services people at risk and have been assaulted in psychiatric hspt because people all thrown in together no specialised units end a you are a smug uncaring man
How many people committed suicide due to their hopes and dreams being ruined by Greed and 2 corrupt governments.
Election next year everybody…
Knob Enda is simply launching a propaganda vehicle to pretend that he actually cares about ordinary citizens. (He doesn’t, never has beyond some photocall PR)
Don’t be fooled, mental health services (under which drug issues should come, when we’ve stopped brutally criminalising the afflicted) are systematically abysmally resourced.
Absolutely nothing of substance will be done by Enda (or any of the main stream parties).
Why am I so sure?
1. The record of mental health support resourcing, which anyone working in the sector will tell you (except of course ambitious manager classes keen to please their political masters & be suitably rewarded etc.)
2. The fact that by the very nature of mental (ill) health, the people who know the truth about Authorities’ neglect and malfeasance – the patients – are unlikely to articulate it, or be believed if they do.
3. Consider what we now know of how Authorities (Civil, Legal, Church etc. – all the same ‘club’) behaved in (similar in many ways) child services & helped to cover up decades upon decades of abuse, torture and murder.
Think those attitudes have gone away among the Authorities? (Ha!)
Has there been ANY meaningful accountability of ANYTHING gone wrong under the ‘system’ control of the Authorities (incorporating the the top few percent in income and wealth)… EVER ??
Until we get meaningful democracy – which will never happen when we positively invite the just-line-your-own-and-mates’-pockets-retire-early-and-wealthy motivation, and promise not to look! – what people like Kenny is doing is just running the propaganda dept. for the interests he really serves.
Time to wake up….
Maybe we should start by looking for public representatives who are not simply motivated by grabbing as much wealth for themselves as possible?
I think we all know that very capable people, not motivated by money, but you know, actually doing a good job for their community, certainly exist.
But, the way we run our sham-ocracy (effectively still plutocracy, even after a century of pretending otherwise), we positively exclude such people from office.
There really is only one reason why majority citizens keep voting against their own interests…. mass propaganda control, best done of course, and perfected by the techniques developed from Edward Bernays onward, when people don’t realise such control is being exerted.
The age of the Internet is already loosening the power of mass (media) control…. don’t leave it too long before making the effort to discover the truth about how society continued to be controlled by the same elites, even after the introduction of universal suffrage this last century.
If you don’t take this opportunity soon to instigate real democracy – society actually functioning in the interests of the majority – well, you only need to look at what’s already happening to the most vulnerable (and least resonsible for the mess) in Greece… or those desparate refugees drowing in the Med…
Think the ruling classes care about YOU any more than them? (Think again!)
Election a bit earlier than that Mike – Labour have started with their circulars already !
The vital cuts to mental health services don’t help. Does Enda expect charities to pick up his incompetence in this area? The number of people who’ve taken their own lives in the lifetime of this government has gradually increased. Depression et al is not something you put an economic value on, otherwise you’re putting a figure on a life
To test your sincerity Enda, reverse attacks on mental health facilities, posts and funding. Go further by restoring guidance counsellors to ex quota school positions and put in extra counsellors in primary and secondary schools to undo the harm of the last 5 years.
You’ll be waiting. This is lip service.
Cuts to single parents allowance yesterday, Yeah right.
The only way i can see a mass prevention is by the Government resigning. And some sort of caring Government reversing all the cuts to mental health, frontline medical staff and stop taxing the most vulnerable in our society which is only adding to their worries, pushing some over the edge.
Great move forward , the glaring omission over the past fifteen years of the effects of sexual abuse and its weight on Irish society is a key to understanding why some people take their lives..
We need to remove the gender blaming and say abuse is abuse is abuse …
Like the gp’s and the under 6s this is another political stunt, remember we’re heading into a general election, expect more of this kind of cynical dishonesty from these dreadful people in the coming months
Kenny would lock his sick granny in a coal she’d if he thought it would get him reelected….. He has no shame. His deceits and lies since coming into government is the no1 aggravating factor in increased suicide figures
Having witnessed how the system works I am surprised it is not higher. Someone presenting them to a Dr about depression/suicidal ideations will be referred to hospital (this can take over a month), unless they have actually gotten to the stage where suicide has been attempted. Even if they present themselves to A&E for assessment (which is not an appropriate place for a person who is suicidal to be) they almost have to be stabbing themselves in front of all in A&E to be admitted, usually discharged with follow up appointment.
I do not blame the people in the mental health services who have seen their budgets/services slashed by this government over the past number of years.
Some of these “negative life events” as has been described could be helped with counselling but getting that service (unless rolling in money) is a very long process.
The best organisation is Pieta House, they do excellent work where the Govt should be providing to our citizens. The Samaritans advice was a cup of tea.
SO Edna along with all the other tripe you have served up over the past few years (and more so in run up to election year) your words are just that, words!
Are most suicides preventable? I’m not sure they are. I also think that too many suicides are attributed to depression.
It is estimated that 90% (US) of suicides are caused by depression but I don’t know how that figure is arrived at. Some explanations are suggested that certain life events trigger undiagnosed depression and subsequent suicide. Perhaps it is simply those life events themselves which drives people to suicide and that makes it much more difficult to prevent.
It would be fair to say that the people who are left carrying the can of the years of austerity are Irish males. 80% of the total social welfare receipt are Irish and the vast amount of welfare precipitants are Irish male. the working class has being totally f..c.ked over by the political elite for years.
Kenny’s assault on the Irish people, on behalf of his Euro-bosses has caused innumerable suicides, And now the worm has the audacity to pretend to care.
Don’t fool yourself Kenny, We know what you’re up to, you shameless liar.
I know they mean well, but I am really tired of seeing basic kindness and relaxation dressed up as “healthcare”. While real mental illnesses are ignored. The “scarier” illnesses like schizophrenia and bipolar are downright ignored, what we need is knowledge, understanding, and resources. How does a young person to about getting assessed for depression and accessing treatment ? For example.
Why don’t we have suicide crisis centres where people feeling sting urges can keep themselves safe and be supervised and seek a professional , haters of sending them to our already overcrowded emergency departments? When will ur schools teach teens how to recognise symptoms of depression and help work through it. When will we actually take young people’s pain seriously instead telling then they are ‘just stressed” or “its horemonal”
Well said claire
How many people have committed suicide because of Mr. Kenny’s reported allegiance to Jean Claude Trichet during the Bailout ?
Too many is the answer !
a good start would be actually caring for the well being of men in this country. would reduced it by well over 10% in the 5 years. sadly this wont be the case.
“The CSO confirmed figures for 2012 indicate that 541 people lost their lives by suicide. Provisional figures for 2013 (475 deaths) and 2014 (459 deaths) indicate a decrease in the numbers of deaths by suicide.”
…So by doing nothing suicide figures are down 15% is the last 3 years, and they’re announcing an ambitious strategy to reduce it by 10% by 2020, they’re some fcuking heroes alright…
Was just listening to kathleen lynch on the radio. What is it with our sub standard politicians and gov that they just cannot admit responsibility or even share responsibity for anything. Lynch was saying all people with mental health problems have a long history of mental health problems before they reach the stage of needing pro help. The woman from pieta house says that over 70 percent of people they treat have no previous mental health issues, that their problems arise as a result of a life event. Who do you believe, the professional from pieta house or the politician?
Article today about people with psychosis on trolleys in a+ e depts for hours nurses illequpped to deal with this sometimes people sent home.why don’t the acute psychiatric hspts have an a+ e depths. Why do people have to go to a+ e it doesn’t make sense
A good start for this would be a serious discussion about our binge drinking culture. Getting hammered all the time because it’s considered normal can really push vulnerable people over the edge. Just because the $hit’s legal doesn’t mean it’s safe. As a country we need to f****g wake up.
Sad about the distraction on political issues even though austerity is a factor.
I see that 30,000 people completed ASIST training (Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training). I highly recommend it. I did it 4 years ago and have done the refresher course every 2 years.
http://www.hse.ie/portal/eng/services/list/4/Mental_Health_Services/NOSP/Training/training.html
While our mental health system revolves around the biomedical model ie drugs progress in this area will be difficult.
have your say