How many people here know someone who committed suicide?

I'd assume (obviously don't know for certain) a big reason suicide rates are significantly higher among men than among women is: men are, culturally, expected to "tough it out" and not express themselves and not confide in anyone. And yet that culture isn't as prevalent anymore, I would have thought. Guess it is in some areas though.

robman60 wrote: »

The 486 deaths recorded as suicides in 2010 consisted of 386 men and 100 women, so yes, men are far more likely to take their own lives.

Wasn't in any way questioning that - post edited for clarity.

Absolutely horrific, Irishbird... :-/

Pieta House is amazing.

kumate_champ07 wrote: »

India is a poorer country with less suicides, correct me if Im wrong?

You have taken that out of context from my post.
I was addressing suicides and causes in IRELAND and that could possibly be due to the change in the socio-economic climate here.
Not in India.

As mini-title says I wrote this myself. Was going to try get it published somewhere but hey boards.ie is somewhere I suffer from depression myself and was at a low-ebb recently so wanted to occupy my mind with some writing

This is long (1350 words) so if anyone reads it fair play to ye

Firstly I’m not a religious person, i don’t attend mass and i suffer from depression. Suffering from depression might seem disconnected to my piety but i’ll hold that thought. Secondly, the topic of suicide is never an easy subject to tackle. It can be approached from a multitude of socio-economic angles and from related mental health angles. The impact of recession, unemployment, financial hardship and related problems such as stress, depression and alcoholism is demonstrably clear.

When looking at the suicide rates in Ireland over the past 50 years one figure jumped out immediately. Between 1970 and 1975 the suicide rate in Ireland jumped from 1.8 to 4.7 per 100,000. This remains the largest 5 year increase in the rate of suicide recorded in this country.

It begs the obvious question – what happened in those years? Well, a lot, both domestically and internationally; i wanted to see if i could find anything exceptional in the period that may help to explain that jump. The suicide rate has continued to rise steadily since 1975 so it is easy to rule out a statistical anomaly.

It’s worth noting at this point that our neighbours in the UK experienced a slight drop of 0.4 per 100,000 by 1975.

Economically the early 1970s were not that bad and certainly not on the somewhat apocalyptic-feeling scale of recession of the past five years. Our population expanded by 13% during the 1970s in spite of an increasing emigration, whilst our neighbours over the water saw a fairly static population shift during the decade.

As i plough through the story of the early 1970s in Ireland i feel like Lieutenant Columbo, good old Peter Falk, stumbling into a crime scene with a niggling suspicion only to take his time bumbling to an inevitable conclusion – who did it! Except this isn’t television and there is never a neat resolution to the story of suicide. Nevertheless i wanted something that stood out to me as a possible factor, however tenuous, as there had to be many factors that explained this jump. Socio-economic factors weren’t pointing the way – our economy was growing, our population was growing and early 1970s Ireland was a fairly prosperous place to be.

By chance i stumbled across some literature on Irelands accession to the EEC in 1973; debates on the referendum to the constitution and the results of the vote. Could this have had any possible correlation to suicide in the country? I felt it was doubtful but worth exploring a little more. One thing it did highlight was secularisation. Of all the advantages Ireland gained from becoming a member of the European community, the church was probably not one of the chief recipients. Against this accession to Europe, with its more secularised ways, came a backdrop of a domestic movement towards secularism – for example the contraceptive movement, womens liberal rights, Mary Robinson et al.

Could the emergence of a more secular Ireland have had such a profound impact on suicide rates (or any at all)? What correlation exists between religion, happiness and taking ones own life? The 1970s marked the beginning of many declines in religious Ireland. Church attendances began to drop, numbers of Diocesan Priests began to drop and the power of the church itself in the country was beginning to wane. Most would argue given subsequent horrifying child abuse scandals that this was no bad thing.

I came across a poll from the Pew Institute taken in 2006 which showed a correlation between church attendance, income and general happiness. 21% of people polled on low incomes who didn’t attend mass regularly were happy, compared to 37% of people on the same low incomes who did attend regularly. Whether this is a case of religious fulfilment or merely a sense of belonging to something, those who attend church regularly appear to gain something. Of course, the correlation between happiness and suicide is complex in itself but as a sufferer of depression i can only anecdotally add i prefer to be happier within myself; and any negative thoughts tend not to occur during rare periods of inner peace.

Since 1975 there has been an inverted symmetry between the decline of church attendance and the increase in suicide rates. To suggest this as a cause of the increase in suicide rates would be to completely misunderstand the complex nature of suicide. However, to dismiss it completely as a factor in the debate might be going a little too far.

A 2009 Iona Institute report found a marked increase in church attendance in the previous year, with 66% attending once a month up from 54% the previous year. 2009 was conversely one of the lowest suicide rates reported in Ireland in the past decade. Again, the incidence and causation of suicide is not determinable by any sole factor, the improvement in frontline mental health services are much more likely to be a key factor in this drop in 2009 – but it is interesting to note the correlation nonetheless between the figures.

Suicide awareness and the mental health service will remain on the front line in attempting to reduce the suicide rates in this country. I won’t for one minute as a non-practicing Catholic suggest to anyone going to church is an answer to this problem – neither would i suggest there is any one answer to a multi-faceted problem. However, it seems to me a sense of belonging, a sense of community, a sense of purpose and faith intrinsic to church attendance seems to have a correlation on overall happiness. With priest numbers predicted to fall rapidly and church attendances likely to follow suit, it could be worth following any future impact, if any, this has on suicide incidence in the country.

Wibbs wrote: »

IIRC I read before that one reason can be that women a) being generally less violent, don't seek out and violent end and b) they don't want to damage or disfigure their bodies. Plus an element of cry for help can be involved, so chose methods that take time leaving their fate to fate as it were. Like you say though every person is an individual.

I would think of it using a balloon analogy. The female balloon is inflated but is gradually allowed to release itself from the pressure building up and deflates.

The male one grows and grows until it violently bursts.


What I'm saying is that women tend to speak about their feelings more and it acts as a form of therapy.

Whereas men generally don't as much and the depression grows and grows, culminating in something fatal (lethal suicide)

It must be encouraged that men speak about their issues. It's a sign of strength not weakness.