Suicide-prevention resources needed

The number of people who attempt suicide or deliberately self-harm each year, including those who do not present at A&E, is conservatively estimated by experts to be in excess of 60,000.

Research is vital in order to give us a true picture of what is going on. This relates not only to collecting data on undetermined deaths but also to revealing the hidden suffering of much of the population.

More than 11,000 incidences of deliberate self-harm present at A&E departments.

However, we do not have figures for people who attempt suicide and who present only to their family doctor or who seek help from a psychologist.

There are also no figures for the number of sufferers who do not seek help and who, along with their families, are in deep distress.

Almost half of those who presented at A&E having deliberately self-harmed in 2004 were people under 30.

Suicide and deliberate self-harm are also indicators of the mental health of our population. The development of our psychiatric services has been scandalously ignored for too long.

It is accepted that one in four of our population will suffer a psychiatric or psychological condition at some stage in their lives. But while, in 1997, 11% of the total health budget was spent on the psychiatric services, in 2006 the allocation is 7%.

Between 1998 and 2005 the Government spent just €17 million on suicide prevention resources.

Cllr Tim Lombard

Granig

Minane Bridge

Co Cork.