One in six people think of suicide

MORE than one in six Irish people have suicidal thoughts, the highest rate in a survey of six European countries, research shows.

Psychiatrist Prof Patricia Casey, who yesterday launched Aware's depression awareness week, said Ireland and Britain had the highest prevalence of depressive disorders at 12%. The research showed that such thoughts were clearly linked to a depressed mood, she said.

Prof Casey said all post-suicide studies had clearly identified depressive illness and alcohol dependence as being overwhelmingly the strongest suicide risk factors. Alcohol was a factor in over two out of three cases of deliberate self-harm and must be treated aggressively, she said. While the State had a regulatory role to play, parents must take the lead in instilling in their children a sense of respect for alcohol. “We must do this, if we are to hope to overcome the darkness that binge drinking manifests,” she said.