Many recent suicides are due to the economic downturn. The loss of dignity which goes with lack of work, the closure of a business , the sheer feeling of helplessness in the face of these challenges can lead to that awful feeling of not seeing a way out. This is not helped by the pursuit of debtors by creditors who sometimes should stop and think of the effect of their actions on the pursued. Courts too have a roll. Its very easy for a judge to give a judgement and the court registrar to sign it. All just part of a days work. The effect on a recipient however can be devastating and push a person already under pressure over the edge. I said before that there should be courses for those in authority to educate them as to the possible effects of their actions. If it saves one life its worth it.

Lost quite a few friends to suicide the last few years. Awful to hear somebody sees now way out

Correction. Roll should spell Role .

Permanent solution to fix a temporary problem.

Glad to read such an open response to suicide.

So many people think it is always & without exception “wrong” for someone to commit suicide. Yet, that seems to grossly misunderstand where a person is when they make that ultimate of ultimate decisions.

By definition, a person must be in an intolerable situation to take their own life.
By saying such an act is “wrong”, we are insisting that they tolerate the intolerable.

Of course, I am NOT suggesting that suicide is the “right” answer. But it is an answer that has always existed and always will exist. It is part of human behaviour and has been used thru history as relief from insufferable situations – in particular physical pain (e.g. if under torture or medical treatment), or philosophical conundra (e.g. to take your life so that others may live, as with Cpt Oates with Scott in Antartica.)

Yet, while we generally accept suicide as necessary (or even noble) under these intolerable circumstances, we seem to reject it as regards intolerable mental anguish.

This may be due to the mistaken belief that all mental pain can be cured and that someone in mental anguish is incapable of a rational decision. Both presumptions are false.

Not all mental anguish can be cured. People live with it their whole lives, often in a terrible state.

In addition, recent media discussion repeatedly tell us to treat people with severe mental anguish/depression as normal. That is, to (rightly) allow them to participate as normal in everyday life and retain control of their own lives, e.g. to let them work as normal, live independently and engage as normal, whilst being aware of & understanding of their condition.

If that is so, do we allow that they take control of the most important & final of decisions.
If not, are we being hypocritical? Are we saying, you are not capable of such a decision?

And just so people do NOT misunderstand me – I DO NOT “promote” suicide as a way out.
It is not the answer. I understand that many people who commit suicide do so despite that fact that alternatives exist. These people should be helped and initiatives such as those described above should rightly be promoted.

But we should also be aware that someone who commits suicide is not “wrong”. We must allow them the respect that they take their own life as the ultimate & most personal of final decisions.

One (at least) teenager under 17 committing suicide every month – this is nothing short of a national scandal.

It is obviously important to have community mental health services in place, but the awful fact is that many of those young people who died many not have ever spoken about their distress to anybody or sought help. It is documented that young people are more likely to talk in the first instance to their peers than, say, a teacher or school counsellor (who in any event are often guidance counsellors and may not have the necessary counselling skills) – there is an issue of permission from parents also before they can attend an outside counsellor.

I was involved in a large suicide seminar attended by, among others, Transition Year students – some of them talked movingly about their own mental health issues in group sessions. They were absolutely unanimous at the feedback session in demanding that they get training in school on how to look after their own mental health and that of their friends. They are crying out for this. In addition, they were really indignant that they are not allowed in this country to get basic suicide prevention training like safeTALK (16-year-olds can in other countries).

If mental health problems often arise in adolescence, if one in three adolescents are in mental distress, if school (or other places of learning, or clubs) are the places where they are a ‘captive audience’ then it is nothing short of disgraceful that we are not using schools to teach positive mental health and also suicide awareness. That group of friends stand a very good chance, with training, of recognising when a friend may be down, depressed or suicidal and directing that friend to appropriate services.

We have to open up this area as a discussion. Young people may not, no matter how bad they feel, take that step to seek outside help. If they can sit in school and hear that they are not alone in what they are going through, find out how they can look after their mental health, find out if what they are going through may need help, and how to get that help, we can save so many lives.

I am utterly outraged that we can allow this epidemic to continue without taking steps to tackle it right at the heart of where young people are, and use promotion of positive mental health to prevent it in future. It’s not as if we don’t know what to do. It needs to start in primary schools with an obligatory ‘whole school’ approach to emotional literacy and continue through junior cycle with work in school on how to look after your mental health and opening up the whole subject of mental health, as well as trusting young people to do peer work.

Whole community approaches to promote positive mental health are vital of course (such as Jigsaw) but if we are not tackling mental health in schools, where most students are, then we will continue to let down those young people who never take that step themselves to go to a service that could save them.

Today is World Suicide Prevention & Awareness Day!! Worldwide every day an average of 3000 People commit suicide and over 50,000 people attempt suicide but these figures could be completely wrong because a lot of times different causes of death are put down to hide this because of the Stigma of Suicide, Mental Health or any other issues that trigger the act of Suicide!! Suicide is a result of some trigger to cause the brain and person to think Suicide is the answer but if those people could open up more, share and look for support then maybe some lives could be saved!! My Mam suffered horrendously with Mental Health shortly before she committed suicide and it was worst time of my life!! People think ah sure buy bunch of flowers or few treats and tell them you love them but once that Deep Anxiety or Depression kicks in the cycle of Suicide being the only answer is nearly impossible to break!! I hate how my Mam died and miss her every day but she saw it as the only answer to stop the pain she was feeling, hide the shame of previous attempts and to save her family from further pain!!! Suicide should not be the answer to anybody’s problems and its horrendous the level of suicide in young people in Ireland for various reasons personal to themselves!!! Suicide and Mental Health should be shouted from the rooftops and with it the knowledge that look for support, speak up if feeling low, down, depressed, stressed, worried about money, life or any problems!!!! People think ah sure what can a GP do for me if feeling low, or I don’t want to bother my family, partner or neighbour if feeling stressed and finding it hard to get out of bed!!! The cycle of mental health and suicide seems to be a monster task to change but there are plenty of success stories to give people the passion to fight the Mental Health and Suicide Calling!!! Suicide has many different faces because it can come in like a flash and make somebody do it in a matter of seconds without any previous signs of Mental Health or problems!! This is obviously close to impossible to stop but if there was more communication around suicide and help out there then it may stop some of these sudden suicides!!! If you could plant something in everybodys brain to just think for a few seconds is there another option, maybe I should call my friend, maybe I should wait till tomorrow to see if this is truly what I want, things like that…!! Young people especially simply should not be committing suicide because there is so much life out there if only they could experience more than the darkness or problems they are going through!!
My Mam killed herself to end the pain but in doing so she killed the person too!!! She was lucky because before she left us she had lived, loved and built an incredible family!!!
Lets spread the word and let people know that in the darkest of times there is always a little bit of light from somewhere!! I for one am there if anybody needs a chat, laugh or maybe just some distraction from feeling low!!! Suicide should not be an option, choice or even thought about!!!