Private suicide inquests ‘could increase stigma’
She was commenting on a call by Console for inquests into death by suicide to be held in private because the process compounded the grief. Console chief executive, Paul Kelly, said families bereaved by suicide could feel as if they were being put on trial at a public inquest.
“We just feel there has to be a better way,” he said.
However, Ms Lynch, said one of her tasks in relation to mental health was to tackle the stigma associated with it. She said the question of holding inquests in private where there was a suspicion of a death by suicide would have to be thought through very carefully.
“I would not like to do something that would increase stigma,” said Ms Lynch before she addressed Console’s World Suicide Prevention day Conference at Croke Park in Dublin yesterday. “Ireland is a very small country and if, for instance, one inquest was held in public and another in private, it would not take a lot to deduce that the one held in private was a suspected suicide,” she said.
However, Mr Kelly, said public inquests were not held in Scotland and Northern Ireland once the authorities accepted that it was a suicide and it was not in the public interest.
“We need a more sensitive and compassionate way of investigating suicide deaths in the Republic and we should start by making the inquests into those deaths private,” he said.
“Traumatised families can be asked to give evidence, suicide notes can be made public and family members can be questioned about last conversations and the deceased’s state of mind.
“Deeply private information about drugs or alcohol in the deceased’s system, or if they had a row with someone before ending their life, can all be discussed in a public forum with the media in attendance.”
Mr Kelly said families bereaved by suicide had gone through one of the most devastating events possible and felt they were being put on trial at a public inquest. He said death by suicide caused a more protracted and complicated grief because of the element of choice.
He felt the current system added to the stigma of death by suicide and could prolong grieving unnecessarily.
“Public inquests can have a trial-like aspect which harks back to the days before suicide was decriminalised in 1993.”
Mr Kelly said Console would be lobbying for the law to be changed to allow inquests into death by suicide to be held in private and would be asking to meet with Justice Minister Frances Fitzgerald to discuss the issue.
Tackling emotional distress is the key to reducing suicide and self-harm among younger people, according to Irish GP and author Dr Harry Barry.
“I feel that as a society, we are firefighting by trying to deal with the individual issues such as gender, lifestyle, higher expectations, addiction or bullying without getting to the core of the issue.
“We will continue to run around in circles unless we recognise that while a lot of these issues are relevant, the golden thread running through all cases of suicide and self harm is emotional distress.”
The GP, who spoke at the Console World Suicide Prevention Day Conference at Croke Park in Dublin yesterday, said the biggest challenge that people like him faced in suicide prevention was how to reach out to young people aged between 13 and 25.
“The answer lies in teaching young people the skills of how to recognise and deal with the problem of emotional distress long before they reach the point of self-harming or suicide attempts,” said Dr Barry.
American suicidologist Fredric Matteson said suicidal persons existed in a state where who they were to other people was not who they were to themselves.
The suicidal person was unknowingly finding ways to sustain both ‘selves’ eventually becoming trapped in an unreal, painful and disconnected state.
“Reasoning, traditional cognitive behavioural approaches and even medications may help for a time but cannot really reach them,” he said.
His therapy model shows how suicidal people can alleviate their psychological pain and return to emotional health.
They learned about the “mind trap” they were in, redefined their situation and transformed negative thoughts and feelings. At the end, they set themselves free.
Another speaker, Prof Myfanwy Maple, a social work expert from Australia, said only a quarter of people bereaved by suicide joined support groups.
Prof Maple said there was also a gender imbalance in the support groups because 85% of the participants were women.
She also believed that suicide interventions needed to be targeted at those most in need.
There was a risk that blanket interventions could cause harm to those who had a suicide episode but were coping well with their situation.
“If somebody doesn’t need help, we should be targeting it as those who do,” she said.
Samaritans — 116 123
Console (Suicide bereavement) — 1800 247 247
www.aware.ie — 1890 303 302
Youth Mental Health — ie.reachout.com
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