Staff at new Pieta House centres “flat out” with suicidal and self-harming clients

The chief executive of suicide prevention centre Pieta House has said staff at three new regional offices have been working “flat out” with new cases since they opened.

Psychologist Joan Freeman also said there had been a marked increase in the number of people with mortgages attending its services, the majority of whom were men.

However, 25% of all people attending Pieta House services are aged under 18, with Ms Freeman claiming that awareness campaigns need to focus more on people around a young person with suicidal thoughts rather than focusing primarily on the young person.