Suicide problems 'need to be highlighted'

Every suicide should get the same level of media coverage as a road accident to bring home the scale of the epidemic, a TD said today.

There were 444 people who died by suicide in 2003, compared to 335 people who died in road accidents in the same year.

Independent TD for Cavan-Monaghan Paudge Connolly said the problem was simply not getting enough coverage.

“Suicide isn’t being driven home to us in the same way road deaths are being driven home. But it’s a mega problem. We’re losing ten young kids every week.”

He said the media should be covering suicides at inquests around the country, despite the further pain this might cause to grieving families.

“It’s a delicate issue but I think it’s gone beyond the hurt at this stage. I think if you ask any family who’ve experienced a suicide, they don’t want it to happen to anyone else.”

Mr Connolly, who originally worked as a psychiatric nurse before he entered the Dail, walks a regular three mile route around the outskirts of Monaghan town. Three young people living along the route have committed suicide since the start of the year.

Mr Connolly said the huge public concern about suicide had been reflected in packed out attendances at suicide prevention and coping seminars.

“People are desperate with worry. A lot of parents are afraid to look crossways at their kids regarding suicide,” he said.

Last week, the Offaly county coroner Brian Mahon, warned that suicide was “reaching epidemic proportions“.

In one single day, five of seven inquests he dealt with were of people who took their own lives: an 81-year-old pensioner and a 48-year-old man who shot themselves; along with a 25-year-old labourer, a woman aged 47, and a father in his 50s who hanged themselves.

In the last 10 years, the number of suicides has increased by 26% in the Irish Republic and 27% in Northern Ireland.

The Samaritans media guidelines for reporting suicides state that suicide is a valid subject for both reporting and dramatic representation, and that the media has an important role to play in educating the public about suicide.

This includes letting people know about the warning signs associated with a person who is suicidal and the places they can seek help from, such as the Samaritans own helpline at 1850 60 90 90.

However, the guidelines warn that reporting that glorifies suicide or mentions the method of death can lead to copycat suicides.

In Britain, a newspaper reported the suicide of a person who mixed poisonous anti-freeze with lemonade and drank it in a field. In the following month, there were nine cases of deliberate antifreeze poisoning compared with an average of two per month previously, and in one of the cases, the exact method was copied.