Scheme can aid in suicide fight

I WOULD like to comment on the important front page article (January 28) that highlighted the increase in suicides among elderly people based on observations from coroners in Offaly and Kerry.

The increased risk of suicide among older people associated with increased social isolation as one of the consequences of the economic recession is consistent with findings of an innovative Suicide Support and Information System (SSIS) that is being piloted by the National Suicide Research Foundation (NSRF) in collaboration with coroners, healthcare professionals and bereaved family members in Co Cork since September 2008. However, it is important to note that the recent increase in suicides is observed in both young and older people, and mostly in men. Key objectives of the SSIS are:

1. To improve provision of support to the bereaved.

2. To better define the incidence and pattern of suicide in Ireland.

3. To identify and better understand the causes of suicide.

4. To identify and improve the response to clusters of suicide and murder-suicide.

In addition to social isolation, the SSIS has identified other risk factors including undiagnosed and untreated mental health problems, alcohol and drug abuse, history of deliberate self harm, long term consequences of sexual abuse in childhood and adolescence, recent separation of young men from partner/children and unemployment as a precipitating factor, in particular among young men in building-related trades.

The SSIS has also identified a subgroup of families with severe psychosocial problems in which multiple family members had taken their lives.

Some of the factors identified by the SSIS are clearly associated with the effects of the economic recession on the one hand and reduced access to mental health services on the other hand, which clearly reflects a paradoxical situation that urgently needs to be addressed.

A major benefit of the SSIS is the timely identification of suicide cases — three years earlier than the Central Statistics Office. The Suicide Support and Information System has been commissioned by the National Office for Suicide Prevention to the NSRF to be piloted in Co Cork. We hope to expand this innovative system to other regions in Ireland which are confronted with increasing suicide rates.

Dr Ella Arensman

Director of Research National Suicide Research Foundation

Cork