‘Bullying may lead to suicidal thoughts’
The former Big Brother contestant was one of a number of celebrities attending the launch of Console Snowdrop month in Dublin yesterday.
At the event, musician Jack L was named as the 2010 Ambassador for Console, the organisation for the suicide bereaved. Broadcaster Miriam O’Callaghan and television presenter Aidan Power also lent their support to the campaign, which aims to alleviate the tragic effects of suicide in Ireland.
Console revealed that while it is dealing on a regular basis with the families of people who have died by suicide, a suicide prevention phone line established just a few months ago, 1life, is already fielding 3,000 calls a month.
Anna Nolan said by the time she came out in her early 20s, she was already mature enough to deal with some of the abuse that came her way. She recalled living in Edinburgh and leaving the gay cafe where she worked, when a gang of boys starting hurling abuse and beer cans.
“I was old enough to know that it was unacceptable behaviour, juvenile, but for a lot of people in Ireland today it is very tough,” she said. “It is not being addressed properly at all.”
She said schools, from management down to individual students, need to look at the issue.
“A lot of the schools do not want to face the notion that some students are gay,” she said, adding that parents also needed to inform their children about the issues and stand up against homophobic language.
Jack L said almost every household and community had been touched by suicide and depression in some way.
“We are inundated with bad news but things are never that bad – there will always be light and hope,” he said.
“Suicide is never a solution to anything.”
1life – 1800247100
Console – 01 6102638
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