ICA backs campaign to reduce rural suicides
To mark World Suicide Day, which took place last week, ICA has teamed up with Pieta House — the suicide and self-harm crisis centre — in a campaign to reduce the incidence of suicide in rural communities.
With males accounting for eight out of 10 suicides in Ireland, the Mind Our Men campaign aims to help both men and women in rural and farming communities spot the warning signs of suicide and intervene to save a life.
Loneliness and isolation have regularly been cited as contributory factors in rural suicides. Last winter’s difficult weather also heightened concerns about the mental wellbeing of some farmers.
The initiative led by Pieta House is supported by the IFA, Teagasc and the Department of Agriculture. Pieta House will provide training to members of farm organisations and has edited an information booklet which will be distributed to IFA’s 88,000 members.
ICA is also working with Pieta House to train members in each federation to Mind Your Buddy. Training will equip an ICA member in each county to spot signs of distress in their fellow members and to generally raise awareness about mental health in their county.
Pieta House representatives point to research that shows people who are feeling vulnerable or who have suicidal ideation manifest outward signs of distress. “Who would notice this more than a classmate, colleague or friend? Instead of encouraging the distressed person to look for help, Pieta House feels the help should be sought by the friend/colleague. They also believe that a peer is more likely to not only spot the changes in behaviour of another peer, but would also more than likely be told the truth if they enquired about their friend’s distress.”
To mark World Mental Health Awareness Day on Oct 10, ICA has teamed up with St Patrick’s University Hospital on an initiative called Walk in My Shoes. The idea behind this fundraising and public awareness campaign is simple: to understand what someone who suffers from mental illness is going through, we need to walk in their shoes. ICA members nationwide are invited to wear odd, funky, mismatched or self-decorated shoes at a guild meeting in October and to donate €2 to the cause. All guilds have been asked to take a photo of the mismatched shoes and to send it to central office, where pictures will be uploaded to the ICA website.
Free downloadable mental health packs are available to guilds from www.walkinmyshoes.ie/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/WORKPLACE-MENTAL-HEALTH-PACK.pdf.
ICA invites guilds to inform local groups — such as clubs and schools — in a bid to stamp out the stigma associated with mental health difficulties.
