Mental Health - More lost to suicide than on the roads

IT is not surprising that the marked increase in suicide recorded during the so-called Celtic Tiger era should get worse in times of recession.

Given the stresses and strains besetting families whose incomes have plummeted disastrously in the current crisis, a new and worrying trend has been highlighted by Samaritans Ireland who warn that some people with suicidal feelings are not attending their doctors because of the high cost of GP visits.

For many years, this country has witnessed a virtual flood of suicides, with young males particularly vulnerable and prone to take their own lives. Indeed, according to the Samaritans, who perform marvellous work at the coalface of this appalling problem, men are four times more likely to take their own lives than women.