Rise in number of people seeking suicide counselling

ALMOST 7,000 “hugely traumatised” adults and 581 children who have been bereaved by one or more suicides attended specialist counselling services in the first six months of this year.

Last year, suicide bereavement and prevention service Console counselled 12,668 adults and 1,142 children and the charity’s director of services Ciaran Austin warned that the number of people coming to them is steadily increasing.

Mr Austin noted that this year, more people are coming in the aftermath of one or two losses in the family or community. There has been a notable increase in the number of workplaces approaching Console looking to help employees cope with a colleague’s suicide.

Mr Austin said people left behind after a suicide are hugely traumatised, and that it is not just family members of those who die, but friends and members of the community they lived in.

People who were bereaved 20 years ago are also presenting now as they could not openly talk about death by suicide in the past.

According to Console, leading factors in suicide are alcohol, financial pressures and a loss of identity for men in particular who have lost their jobs due to the economic climate.

It said people who are calling Console’s emergency hotline and deemed to be high risk are talking about childhood sex abuse which they have never dealt with.

“Of people who are using the service, about 40% have depression or anxiety, 20% have an issue with addiction, and the increasing availability and use of drugs such as Valium or Xanax is another thing we have noticed.”

The group also works with children who have lost a parent or sibling.

Dr Ella Arensman of the National Suicide Research Foundation said soon to be published research which it has carried out in conjunction with coroners, health care professionals and family members, has found that 48.2% of people who took their own lives had difficulties in accessing health care services.

“Among young men who took their lives as part of a suicide cluster, we found evidence for undiagnosed and untreated mental health problems and difficulties in accessing specialised counsellors, especially for young men who had lost several friends and family members through suicide and who suffered from complicated grief and post-traumatic stress,” Dr Arensman said.

Console’s annual celebration of light for bereaved families takes place on Sunday nationwide.

Frances Black will sing with Trinity Gospel choir at the Cork event in the Sacred Heart Church at 4pm.

Light service

* Console provides a free helpline, 7 days a Week, 24 hours a day: 1800 201 890

The Console Christmas Service of light will take place in Dublin, Cork Galway, Limerick, Athlone or Wexford on Sunday next. The evening of music, poetry and reflection commemorates the lives lost through suicide.

Phone [phone] or email [e-mail] for information.