Group to probe if suicide rate is higher than statistics

A LEADING suicide research group is investigating the possibility that national suicide rates could be far higher than officially recorded as some Coroners’ Court judgments deliberately re-classify the tragedies.

Under the current system the Central Statistics Office (CSO) is only able to confirm suicides which have been recorded as such in Coroners’ Courts, with just under 500 of these deaths occurring every year.

However, Dr Ella Arensman, director of research at the National Suicide Research Foundation (NSRF), said her group has been asked to investigate whether the real figure could be higher.

The suicide research expert, who was speaking before last night’s Royal College of Physicians in Ireland (RCPI) meeting on self harm and suicide, declined to provide further details on the number of unreported self-inflicted deaths in Ireland as the results are still “preliminary”.

But she emphasised the NSRF was concerned that widespread Government cutbacks could force the already small suicide prevention funding levels – based in part on the number of officially recorded suicides every year – to be reduced even further than the 12.5% cut witnessed in the latest budget.

“The current economic situation does give us concerns. There is only so much money for everyone and it is possible that money available could be reduced,” said Dr Arensman.

Meanwhile, research detailed during the RCPI conference last night has also found that the number of self-harm cases is on the rise for the first time since 2002.

Between 2002 and 2006 the number of cases of self harm remained relatively static at approximately 11,000.

However, in 2007 – the latest figures available – the number of reported cases increased by 2%.

“We only talk about a trend when we see it over at least a three-year period, but there was an increase in 2007,” said Dr Arensman.

“Our previous research would show that self harm is most prominent in girls aged 15-19, and while reported cases are 11,000 the number of people who self harm and are not medically identified could be 60,000,” she added.

Since 2005, the Health Service Executive’s (HSE) Reach Out 10-year suicide prevention strategy has sought to implement almost 96 recommendations for mental health service improvements nationwide.

However, progress has been limited due to the relatively small amount of funding put aside for suicide prevention programmes in Ireland, with the already low €3.05 million set aside for suicide and self-harm prevention programmes cut by 12.5% in the latest budget.