Group to launch nationwide campaign on suicide

The charity for the prevention of self-harm and suicide, Pieta House, is to launch a nationwide campaign in a bid to reduce the level of male suicide.

Chief executive Joan Freeman said she believed the reason why the rate of suicide among men was so high was because men “don’t ask for help”.

“They think this will pass... they think they can fix it themselves. Men won’t ask for help.”

Me Freeman was speaking at an information night for the launch of a Pieta House centre in Cork yesterday.

“Our campaign next year is going to put the hairs on your head standing up. We are going to involve every person in Ireland in reducing male suicide,” she said.

Ms Freeman was commenting on preliminary figures from the CSO which indicated that there were 525 deaths by suicide in 2011, of which 485 involved men.

In reality, she thought that deaths by suicide in 2011 were probably “double” that figure.

Founded in 2006, the aim of Pieta House, which has five centre nationwide, is to reduce suicide by helping people get through the acute stages of distress.

Ms Freeman said Pieta House was about holding “the broken lives of people in our community” and that by the end of 2012, the charity will have helped over 8,000 people.

“We’re looking to get people to see that suicide doesn’t happen to ‘that group of people over there’ — it can happen to anyone,” said Ms Freeman.

The charity hopes to open a centre at St Catherine’s, Highfield Lawn, Bishopstown in Cork City, in December. The building has been provided by the Sisters of Mercy Southern Province.

Provincial leader of the Sisters of Mercy, Sr Liz Murphy, said suicide is “the critical need of our time which respects neither class nor creed”.