Suicide helpline gets 18,000 calls in six months

IRELAND’S first 24-hour national suicide helpline manned by specialist counsellors and psychotherapists has received more than 18,000 calls in just six months.

The 1Life support service was set up by Turning The Tide of Suicide (3Ts) and bereavement group Console in late October due to the growing risk of suicide in Ireland.

The helpline – which is the only service of its kind staffed entirely by medically qualified experts in suicide prevention – receives no funding from the state, despite repeated requests.

However, in the first six months of its operation, an average of 3,000 people at risk of suicide – some of whom were in the act of suicide during the call – have contacted the service every month.

This equates to an average of 100 calls a day, and in excess of 18,000 calls since the service opened in October.

“There is no over-stating it, this service is saving lives,” Paul Kelly, chief executive of Console, explained.

“When we were beginning the helpline, we were fully aware it was going to be a challenge, but what the number of calls shows clearly is how much of a challenge we are really facing.

“We have had no funding whatsoever from the HSE or the Department of Health.

“That’s mainly because of the economic downturn and because there’s no funding available for anyone, but it’s a shortsighted reason.

“We are getting calls from people who are in the progress of a suicide and need immediate intervention and support. Those calls can last a couple of hours and are crisis points. There is a great sense of despair out there,” he said.

While the HSE has its own free helpline for people at risk of suicide, it is only available from 6pm to 10pm, reducing the availability to those at risk of losing their lives.

The 1Life service is currently operating out of Glasnevin, Dublin; Cork; Limerick; Kildare; Galway; and Wexford, but is available for all parts of the country.

When it was opened on October 21 last year, 3Ts chairman Noel Smyth said the new service was vital due to the “chronic lack of funding” of existing services which are “ineffective and understaffed”.

He added that this situation was the “true failure” of the Irish political class when seen in connection with the growing rise of suicide levels in recent years.

In the last decade, National Office for Suicide Prevention (NOSP) figures show more than 4,000 people have officially died by suicide, with a further 1,000 deaths classed as “undetermined”.

Combined, this figure is almost 2,000 deaths, more than the total number of lives lost as a direct result of the 30 years of the Troubles.

The latest Central Statistics Office figures show the situation is continuing to worsen, with 169 suicides officially recorded in the first six months of 2008 compared with 228 last year.

This represents a massive 35% increase in just 12 months.

* 1Life helpline: 1800 24 7 100 or text “HELP” to 51444 for one-to-one support.

* HSE suicide prevention help line: 1800 742 745.

* Console: 1800 201 890.