Intervening in time to prevent suicides

STATISTICS for 2010 show a total of 486 deaths by suicide in Ireland, of which 386 were male and 100 female — a decrease of 8% on the record high the previous year of 527 suicides.

In 2003, psychologist Joan Freeman closed down her counselling business and dedicated herself to finding out how best she could help people who were suicidal, and what effort would provide the most beneficial result to those coping with the condition.

The result of her deliberations was Pieta House in Lucan, Co Dublin, opened in January, 2006, as a counselling service for those who were suicidal and self-harming. Suicide was, she discovered, “a topic never discussed and rarely understood” — and so she set about changing this reality through her own efforts.