Crosses mark memory of suicide victims

ALMOST 500 white crosses have been erected as part of an awareness initiative remembering the victims of suicide was yesterday launched by the Students’ Union at the Waterford Institute of Technology (WIT) in conjunction with Mental Awareness Week there.

They are on display this week outside the health and life sciences building at the campus to serve as “a poignant reminder of the number of people recorded as having taken their own lives in the Republic of Ireland each year”, said a spokesman yesterday.

The awareness drive aims to highlight the support services available nationally through organisations such as AWARE and the Samaritans, in addition to those on offer at WIT.

The drive plans to “focus on some of the issues facing students and staff today”.

Among the events in the programme this week, entitled Talking is Strength — Not a Weakness, is the launch of the institute’s section on the Please Talk website (www.pleasetalk.ie). This aims to provide students with a list of the support services available to them within the college.

Information and workshops will cover mental health topics, while Mental Health Ireland and Heads Up are in attendance until Friday to provide “student-friendly information”.

According to the spokesman yesterday: “With suicide a leading cause of death among men and women aged under-35, the underlying message to the institute community is that those who may need support should ask for it.

“Similarly, those who are aware of another individual who might benefit from support are encouraged to advise them to seek it from the services available.”

Today, a “mindfulness and destress” day, will include music, a country market, martial arts demonstration, aromatherapy and massage along with relaxation and stress management workshops.

Meanwhile, catering staff at the institute will provide destress smoothies.

President of WIT’s student union, Cathy Pembroke, said: “Our aim is to raise awareness of the causes behind mental illness and provide students with a means of overcoming any issues they may face either through organisations such as Please Talk or the various national support services.

“Nationally, Health Service Executive figures suggest 150,000 young people experience symptoms of depression each year.

“Suicide, which is closely related to acute depression, is increasing at an alarming rate among students in Ireland today and there is scarcely a student in higher education who does not know someone who has died by suicide.”