Helpline launched less than a year ago gets 3,000 calls a month

A SUICIDE prevention helpline launched less than a year ago is receiving up to 3,000 calls a month.

The 24/7 suicide prevention helpline 1life was launched last October and its manager said the volume of calls has illustrated the urgent need for an out-of-hours service for those who need crisis intervention.

Ciaran Austin, whose brother died by suicide at 22, said the helpline had received calls from around the country at its centres in Dublin, Galway and Wexford, and that new centres are to be established in Cork and Limerick in the coming months.

He said the phoneline was a prevention service, with all 37 staff trained to deal with complex situations and also to intervene and call a third person – be it the Gardaí, a friend or relative – if warranted in a particular situation.

“Some people call regularly because they require support to engage in a process, but others do so for a month or two months and then they get to a better place,” he said.

Mr Austin said he viewed the 1life phoneline as a complementary service for others which already exist, but was created out of real need.

“The value that people get out of non-judgmental crisis intervention is priceless at times,” he said.

Referring to the tragedy in Monageer in Wexford in April 2007, he said there was no out-of-hours crisis intervention service for people who needed it and “so we wanted to plug that gap”.

“There is definitely a need for an out-of-hours crisis service – be it social services, suicide prevention, children at risk – there is that need. It is not going to be a 9 to 5 situation.”

The helpline has received a growing number of calls in recent months, but Mr Austin said this was not necessarily due to the continuing poor state of the economy and the jobs market.

“Every suicide is a very personal issue. There is very rarely one single reason why someone gets to that point, it is a myriad of reasons.”

He said some people already under stress or unwell might see their outlook worsen due to the effects of the recession, while in other cases people were holding back on going to see their GP because of money issues. In other cases there is an increased emotional burden on breadwinners in a household.

As for clinical treatments available, he said this could be “hit and miss” for those seeking to avail of them.

“One theme we would see with the helpline is lack of faith or a sort of disconnect with the services, from GP through to the hospital,” he said, adding that there was a “lack of faith in the system”.

As for the helpline, it is funded by Console and the 3Ts and receives no state funding. Mr Austin said clear leadership was needed to help promote the message of suicide prevention.

“I would love to say it’s changing and it is, quite slowly, but for a lot of people it’s too little, too late,” he said. “The investment needs to be there, and the leadership and the drive, but it is slow progress.”

* Call 1800 247 100 or text HELP to 51444

* www.1life.ie

* Console helpline: 1800 201 890