Features - Suicide Prevention & Mental Health

Last month marked World Suicide Prevention Month, with September 10th being highlighted as World Suicide Prevention Day. The aim of this month long campaign is to raise awareness and get people talking about an issue that we find difficult to discuss or comprehend that some people reach such depths of despair they see suicide as a solution to their problems. Suicide awareness is a topic to be broached with great care. It is an issue that has been increasingly affecting the lives of the people of Ireland. It has become everybody’s concern rather being the distant, and at times, taboo subject of the past.An estimated 495 people died by suicide in 2014 (CSO via Connecting for Life, 2015) compared to 195 road traffic deaths in 2014 (garda.ie). According to Connecting for Life, Ireland’s national strategy to reduce suicide from 2015 to 2020 25% of people in Ireland will use a mental health service at some stage of their lives. Research also shows a strong link between mental health difficulties and death by suicide. In higher income countries such as Ireland, mental health problems are present in up to 90% of people who die by suicide. This an extensive plan to tackle suicide in Irish society: “a better understanding of suicidal behaviour, support communities to prevent and respond to suicidal behaviour, provide targeted approaches for those vulnerable to suicide, present improved access, consistency and integration of services, achieve safer and higher quality services, to reduce access to means by which to commit suicide and finally, gather better data and research”.  I feel that it is encouraging that government is taking suicide prevention so seriously. The fact that they have put together such a lengthy document outlining their position and plan of action on this topic is heartening. This is a pretty comprehensive list of goals, and if achieved, will significantly help raise awareness and ultimately, hopefully reduce the number of suicides committed in Ireland. I mean, isn’t that what everyone else wants at the end of the day?There are many extremely valiant and successful efforts to both improve suicide awareness and help reduce the number of incidences of suicide in Ireland. These range from nation-wide campaigns to local suicide awareness groups distributing flyers throughout their respective communities. All of this is helping to somewhat normalise the conversation and in turn encourage people to share their struggles with their inner demons. Services to aid this effort are becoming increasingly accessible. For example, Console, who’s Cork base is on Perrott Avenue just of College Road, launched a 24/7 text helpline and in a recently released infographic this service has proved to be hugely beneficial. It outlines that Console have received over 4,000 texts this year, 62% of which were sent by men. This just goes to show that men, who are notorious for not discussing their mental health, find this a more accessible form of help. Though it is important to note that all groups and demographics are vulnerable to mental health difficulties and suicide. This is a huge leap forward in providing easier, less daunting methods of support.  Other more convenient, more modern forms of assistance and advice are the yourmentalhealth.ie website, #littlethings on Twitter and especially the Pieta House website (pieta.ie), which provides a six-step-plan on how to help someone who is feeling suicidal. On campus, the SÁMH society in conjunction with Pieta House have recently circulated flyers outlining the “signs of suicide”. These are:sleep disturbance, isolation, giving away possessions, no interest in anything and speaking of no future.The HSE also provide suicide prevention information. They offer courses called Reaching Out, SafeTalk and ASIST, aimed to tackle general awareness, alertness skills and intervention skills respectively. These have been seen as greatly informative and useful by participants. The attempt to reduce the stigma surrounding suicide and ultimately mental health has seen the emergence of creative forms of normalising the subject. My favourite example of this is First Fortnight. First Fortnight is a festival started in 2009 which is held, appropriately, during the first fortnight of the year, across Dublin consisting of music, film, theatre, spoken word, debate and visual art events. Its aim is to challenge mental health prejudice through the creative arts. Hopefully First Fortnight will establish itself nationwide in the future as it sounds like a fresh, new approach to tackling the taboo surrounding mental health and in turn, suicide.Fortunately for the students of UCC, the standard of mental health and suicide prevention services here on campus have been maintained and improved over the last few years. When speaking with Dr Michael Byrne, Director of Student Health and Wellbeing, on this issue he was delighted that the high number of face-to-face appointments provided by his department was able to be maintained this year. He also highlighted the progressive and multi-faceted approach the university is taking in tackling mental health issues. UCC Student Health and Wellbeing is equipped in the methods of, physical therapy, face-to-face meetings, online support and treatment and are branching out into bibliotherapy. Bibliotherapy is a new, innovative treatment for various mental health difficulties via different prescribed readings depending on the issue at hand.  The Student Health and Wellbeing Service is working in collaboration with the Boole Library to launch this on campus in the near future.Dr Byrne also informed me that there is a lot of background and pilot work currently taking place in UCC. It is here that the website ifightdepression.com was piloted. It is an EU initiative to promote and increase awareness of depression and suicidal behaviour, by providing information about depression and its consequences, and informing people about the causes, signs and symptoms of depression in order for them to learn how to recognise it. The National Suicide Research Foundation is also based here in the university. Professor Ella Arensman is the Director of Research for the NSRF and is also President of the International Association for Suicide Prevention. Her research with the NSRF into the causes of suicide, self-harm and related mental health and social factors in Ireland, from the perspectives of psychology, psychiatry, medicine, sociology, epidemiology, public health, biostatistics and health services research have been vital in the fight suicide. It is marvellous the the university is getting behind such a worthwhile cause that is benefiting both the student body and the population as a whole.The sizeable issue of suicide and mental health difficulties here in Ireland is progressively being downsized, however, it is going to take a considerable amount of time to eradicate it completely. Thankfully, the awareness of this topic has been raised significantly over the last few years. This awareness and pro-activeness desperately needs to be maintained. We’re in it for the long haul, but it is undoubtedly worth it.