Suicides in Waterford

Popquiz_hotshot

Just heard of a young lad taking his own life this weekend.
It is such a tragedy..

Does anybody know what the suicide rate is in town because all we talk about are attacks or accidents but so many men take their own lives and it is rarely if ever reported.

I heard the yearly rate for the country is over 500!!!

What places are there for men to talk to here? For all we know somebody could be reading this forum who might take their own life but having the info available if it saves even one life is a success.

I know there maybe forums somewhere to deal with that but it has to bebrought down to a local level I think.

Maybe a thread for anyone who is feeling low or stressed might help coz most of us are unknown to each other and men dont talk to people esp people they are close too so this might help.

Just a thought is all....

jimbojazz

Poor kid was just 17....that's two 17 year olds in two weeks - just awful.

paddy145

National Office for Suicide Prevention Annual Report 2009 has some stats, a quick look shows it dosent give a breakdown by region but shows 527 people took their own lives in 2009. Also give a breakdown of age, sex, method etc. Might be of some interest or give some insight.

http://www.nosp.ie/annual_report_09_2.pdf

neemish

Thats the reported number ie cause of death has been ruled as suicide at inquest. It may be higher.

cocoshovel

There a lot of suicide every week and a lot of them are by teenagers, its just we never hear about them so people think it doesnt happen that often when the reality is the complete opposite. Its bad alright and there needs to be more done to prevent it, if there even is any more that can be done.

Yes Ireland yearly suicide rate is about 500 people or over.

ex_infantry man

i know first hand the aftermath a suicide can do to family and friends left behind when the person takes there life needlessly as my cousin took his life five years ago by jumping off the cliff in tramore and i sympathise with his poor family its gonna be tough but they,ll get through it, why don,t people talk it can take a lot of unneeded pressure from there chest.

ziedth

Like ex_infantry man I have experienced the aftermath too with a good friend a couple of years ago and just before Christmas a young lad I was friends with in school up in Dungarvan committed suicide.

I don't understand why it's swept under the rug when it happens. I think if the devastation that ensues was widely shown and highlighted then rates might fall.

eiresandra

There's a long-running debate over whether the media should report on it the same way they do on road deaths. Some of the experts advise against it for fear of copycat suicides. Others think it does need to be highlighted.

I was told last week that the unofficial figure for 2011 was around the 800 mark which is phenomenal. It also doesn't take into account single-vehicle car crashes which are often believed to be suicide.

So sad.

Popquiz_hotshot

I have seen what it causes too..you seethe car crash advets with the familes grieving about the loss and maybe that has saved lives..it wudnt be hard to do an advert like that for suicide esp when double the people died last yr nearly compared to car crashes!!

The river here has seen its fair share at this stage..
IT MUST STOP!!!

seanybiker

I know about 8 who done it in the last few years.
best mate done it year and a half ago. Tis horrible hearing the news. I was bad with depression and have gone a lot downhill since his death but luckily I'm getting a bit better. Slowly but surely. Ill get there eventually. Been so low to have them thoughts is a horrible horrible feeling and I wouldn't wish it upon anyone.

Popquiz_hotshot

seanybiker wrote: »

I know about 8 who done it in the last few years.
best mate done it year and a half ago. Tis horrible hearing the news. I was bad with depression and have gone a lot downhill since his death but luckily I'm getting a bit better. Slowly but surely. Ill get there eventually. Been so low to have them thoughts is a horrible horrible feeling and I wouldn't wish it upon anyone.

Im glad to hear you are pulling yourself through but even reading your post most men wudnt even say that and thats why we need to use say boards for example for people to even set up a profile and talk to us on it because it will help esp for people who dont want to speak but wud rather use text.
Again sorry to hear about your best mate.

dayshah

Popquiz_hotshot wrote: »

I have seen what it causes too..you seethe car crash advets with the familes grieving about the loss and maybe that has saved lives..it wudnt be hard to do an advert like that for suicide esp when double the people died last yr nearly compared to car crashes!!

The river here has seen its fair share at this stage..
IT MUST STOP!!!

Suicides tend to happen in clusters, so its important not to put ideas into peoples head. That's why there car crash style adverts are not appropriate.

Here is contact information for the Waterford Samaritans.

16 Beau Street, Waterford, Republic of Ireland

Phone: (051) 872114
Facilities for visitors with disabilities: Wheelchair accessible. Adapted toilet.
Usual hours open to receive callers at the door: 9am - 10pm


They can also be emailed.
jo@samaritans.org

SillyMcCarthy

Is it the pressure of exams?
Pressure from parents to succeed?

Jesus guys, there's more to life than exams!

seanybiker

Popquiz_hotshot wrote: »

Im glad to hear you are pulling yourself through but even reading your post most men wudnt even say that and thats why we need to use say boards for example for people to even set up a profile and talk to us on it because it will help esp for people who dont want to speak but wud rather use text.
Again sorry to hear about your best mate.

That's the thing yeah. Not many fellas want to admit it. Sure I have no problems at all telling people. Anytime I are sillymcarthy I probably be wrecking his bulb telling him how I'm getting on with the panic attacks etc. He.never tells me to shut up so I presume he doesn't mind.

Them that care don't matter and them that matter don't care.

deisemum

Tonight I read about a 14 year old girl who's in hospital after trying to take her own life, it was only by chance that the girl was found in time. This was in another part of the country.

She's been bullied for the last year by a gang of girls in and outside of school and her parents have a path worn to the school trying to get it dealt with.

Finnbar01

seanybiker wrote: »

That's the thing yeah. Not many fellas want to admit it. Sure I have no problems at all telling people. Anytime I are sillymcarthy I probably be wrecking his bulb telling him how I'm getting on with the panic attacks etc. He.never tells me to shut up so I presume he doesn't mind.

Them that care don't matter and them that matter don't care.

Seany if you don't mind me asking, what sets off your panic attacks?

I used to get them as well. Tried relaxation tapes and I've managed to control them.

ex_infantry man

seanybiker wrote: »

That's the thing yeah. Not many fellas want to admit it. Sure I have no problems at all telling people. Anytime I are sillymcarthy I probably be wrecking his bulb telling him how I'm getting on with the panic attacks etc. He.never tells me to shut up so I presume he doesn't mind.

Them that care don't matter and them that matter don't care.

ya can always send me a message if sillymacarthy aint on i,d have no problems talkin to ya boy

nkay1985

deisemum wrote: »

Tonight I read about a 14 year old girl who's in hospital after trying to take her own life, it was only by chance that the girl was found in time. This was in another part of the country.

She's been bullied for the last year by a gang of girls in and outside of school and her parents have a path worn to the school trying to get it dealt with.

It's this kind of shit that drives me insane. How bullying still isn't dealt with effectively, I don't know.

seanybiker

Finnbar01 wrote: »

Seany if you don't mind me asking, what sets off your panic attacks?

I used to get them as well. Tried relaxation tapes and I've managed to control them.

long story bud. Going on for years. Basically the last few years it ended up being agoraphobia. Leaving the house. Sometimes I can walk up by nkays parents house, other times I might make it upto top of hillview then majority of the time I don't leave the house. I'd love to be able to explain why I'm like this but I have no idea meself. Tried hypnosis, massages, reiki, tablets, councillors, phsychiatrists, even fecking faith healers over the years. Some work for a while a little bit. The occupational therapist that calls upto me once a week is doing good with me the last couple of months. Jaysus its slowly getting better but as long as I'm not getting worse is all that matters to me. Over the years I've tried a few illegal ways of dealing with it. Don't work at all. Only made me worse after the comedown if ya know what I mean.
Ye all probably thought I was this happy go lucky fella, tis all a front the majority of the time but hey, there's always one and it ended up being me lol.


@ex. Cheers for offer bud.


Now ill probably finish me cans and hopefully sleep a few hours and then have to go through it all again tomorrow feck it though. Someone has to do it.


Quick edit.


Did I attempt it before : hell yeah.
Will I attempt it again. To be honest I don't know. Nobody does.
Do I regret attempting it in the past: feck yeah I do. Im sickened I didn't succeed.

Anyways lads if ya wanna ask me questions just add me on faceache or pm me on here. I don't wanna be messing up the thread and going off topic.

thomasm

Great thread here Seany. Lots of useful info
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?threadid=2056481009

scout353

Was talking to someone over the weekend who has a family member in ambulance service and apparently there were 10 suicides in County Waterford over Christmas period.

That is serious sh*t!

Sully

Up to you Seany, but I don't see any issue with you talking about it on here. Its better to talk about it than keep it shut up inside, so fire away if you feel comfortable and wish to.

seanybiker

Sully wrote: »

Up to you Seany, but I don't see any issue with you talking about it on here. Its better to talk about it than keep it shut up inside, so fire away if you feel comfortable and wish to.

Ah tis grand bud. I just don't want a serious thread like this to be all about me.

scout353 wrote: »

Was talking to someone over the weekend who has a family member in ambulance service and apparently there were 10 suicides in County Waterford over Christmas period.

That is serious sh*t!

10!! Feck that. That's alot.

Nolanger

Three each day in Ireland this year according to yesterday's Sindo.

dayshah

Forgive my ignorance, but what exactly is a panic attack?

seanybiker

dayshah wrote: »

Forgive my ignorance, but what exactly is a panic attack?

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panic_attack

S28382

i remember being at my sisters house one night and my sister called me in a panic saying my younger brother had locked himself in his room with a knife and was threatening to start cutting himself i had to go and kick in the door and see what the hell was going on and he said he just felt really low and didnt know why, luckily he didnt do anything, no one knew he was feeling low as at the time he was young (15/16) and he never seemed as if something was up with him, to some it was a silly reason he was feeling like that but to him it felt so serious needless to say we all pulled him through the ill feelings he had and thank god now he is fine and now realises that yeah things can be sorted no matter what......its very sad how people can become trapped within their own minds there should be more of an emphasis on helping people who feel depressed.

tankbarry

hey seanbiker im only down the road in hazelbourne your more then welcome to call down anytime for a cuppa just dont bring them computer games I only play Super Mario

mikeym

I think Beat fm is one of the culprits in promoting suicide among young listeners!

The song below gets played everyday by some of the Djs.

I'm surprised nobody has highlighted this already because everyone remembers the time when Sean Kingston's song beautiful girls caused a stir over its lyrics.

seanybiker

tankbarry wrote: »

hey seanbiker im only down the road in hazelbourne your more then welcome to call down anytime for a cuppa just dont bring them computer games I only play Super Mario

Cheers boy. I'm a nosy fecker and wanna see do I know anymore of the people on here so don't be surprised if I turn up

danjo-xx

I'm living with someone who suffers from panic attacks and believe me it's hell for both of us though I'm not complaining. I feel your pain Seanbiker but there are good times and try to concentrate on them, easy said than done I know.


Read yesterday in the indo that 30 so far this year have done it and 5 alone on New Years Day... shocking statistic's and their only the ones we know about or rightly classified.:(

Discussion on it now on Frontline....

Straight Talker

Life in general is pretty hard and cruel but as John Lennon said who know's there could be a bit of joy just waiting around the corner.Things like listening to Jethro Tull and watching the sunset over Cork are things that give me joy and remind me that life is worth living.Just focus on the things that bring happiness to you.:)

seanybiker

Straight Talker wrote: »

Life in general is pretty hard and cruel but as John Lennon said who know's there could be a bit of joy just waiting around the corner.Things like listening to Jethro Tull and watching the sunset over Cork are things that give me joy and remind me that life is worth living.Just focus on the things that bring happiness to you.:)

Jethro Tull, jaysus I didnt hear anyone mention them in years.

Sunset over cork eh? red sky makes it look like the place is on fire? I can see how that works

letsbet

eiresandra wrote: »

There's a long-running debate over whether the media should report on it the same way they do on road deaths. Some of the experts advise against it for fear of copycat suicides. Others think it does need to be highlighted.

This is a very interesting point of view. Read a book last week by Dan Ariely (about behavioural economics) and there's a chapter related to this. For example, reports of tax evasion cause an increase in tax evasion as people mentally process the news as consistent with it being normal and almost accepted. The same goes for lots of similar ills and studies have shown that teenagers are more likely to become pregnant if their friends are and the same is the case with obesity. They managed to cut binge drinking significantly in one American university by reporting statistics on how few people drink. The whole behavioural view is that reporting on the frequency of certain activities makes them seem more acceptable and part of social norms. It's a tough one though as it goes against most people's nature to sweep it under the rug and pretend that it doesn't happen for the above reasons.

matty985

neemish wrote: »

Thats the reported number ie cause of death has been ruled as suicide at inquest. It may be higher.

Thats not actually the case neemish, they compile suicide stats from the CSO's registry which doesnt base it's data on inquest results but on "the opinion of the investigating Garda", so although yes, many suicides may be officially recorded as accidental deaths or deaths by misadventure, often, they will be included as suicides because of the investigating Garda's opinon that this was the case, so you'd find that those stats would be more accurate than you might think

letsbet

I'd be surprised if the Gardai called many as suicide unless they were absolutely sure. It'd take a brave Garda and a bit of guessing to call a fatal car crash with one driver suicide but some will be. The experts say that there is a very large under-reporting of the number of suicides. Can't quite remember the figures but at least 50% higher as far as I remember.

ziedth

It's true, they discussed it on frontline for example if a body was found at the bottom of a cliff and that person after being examined was judged to be drunk then without a suicide note then it would always be described as "Death by mis-adventure" I can imagine things like that happening quite a bit.

Funfair

seanybiker wrote: »

Ye all probably thought I was this happy go lucky fella,

Na I always knew you were a cnut

Seriously though, Best of luck with your problems Seany, and fair play to you for coming on here and telling people your daily struggle.

Go back to the Doctor or change your Doctor, surely in this day and age there's a tablet that will sort your panic attacks and get you back on your feet...

Best of luck!

seanybiker

Funfair wrote: »

Na I always knew you were a cnut

Seriously though, Best of luck with your problems Seany, and fair play to you for coming on here and telling people your daily struggle.

Go back to the Doctor or change your Doctor, surely in this day and age there's a tablet that will sort your panic attacks and get you back on your feet...

Best of luck!

Haha I am a cnut though.
After trying some load of different tablets. May see if anything new on the market sure. No harm trying

Sully

I think Ray Darcy covered panic attacks on his show today, fairly sure he did. People were texting in saying they went through it themselves and how they helped address it. Some people said some doctors simply don't understand and are no help, so its important to get one that does understand.

Might be of use, sometimes they upload podcasts for this but you could email them and ask also!

seanybiker

Sully wrote: »

I think Ray Darcy covered panic attacks on his show today, fairly sure he did. People were texting in saying they went through it themselves and how they helped address it. Some people said some doctors simply don't understand and are no help, so its important to get one that does understand.

Might be of use, sometimes they upload podcasts for this but you could email them and ask also!

Sorry bout bringing back to be but in fairness how is the doctor going to understand when in my case anyways, I don't understand. Not being smart or anything.
To be honest I do what the people say but sometimes I think, ya know what, you have a degree so ya read a few books and now your a expert, try go through it yourself and then tell me that " just push yourself" works.

Jesus sorry haha ill stop before I rant uncrontolably.


Ronemore Friday night for anyone who wants

letsbet

It's amazing how many people will say things like "just push yourself" alright. I know someone who suffered from depression, panic attacks, and the amount of people who would say "pull yourself together" is staggering.

WIT are fairly proactive in the whole area of mental health in fairness to them and have their Mental Health Campaign next week:


WIT Students' Union will run Positive Mental Health Campaign on Monday 23rd-26th of January. The purpose of the week is to encourage people to be conscious of their own mental health, to look after it, and dispel some of the misconceptions out there about mental health problems in Ireland.

To launch the week we have invited former Munster and Irish Rugby Star, Alan Quinlan to talk to the students and staff of WIT about Mental Health issues and his personal experiences. See Change will also be present to talk about the stigma attached to Mental Health and how, as a nation we need to move forward and remove this stigma.

Over the past number of weeks Mental Health has been on various agendas and a hugely talked about topic. It is very important that we as an Institute can talk about such topics and create awareness to the student and staff body at Waterford Institute of Technology .

I would be grateful if you could spread the word among students on campus and would encourage, for any those possible, to bring your class along to the Auditorium next Monday at 12 noon. The talk will commence at 12:15 and the duration of this talk will last one hour. This talk could be an inspiration to a lot of students and staff and encourage more people to talk about Mental Health issues.

http://www.seechange.ie/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K3lsZ2dpuPc

YumDeiseMum

seanybiker wrote: »

Funfair wrote: »

Na I always knew you were a cnut

Seriously though, Best of luck with your problems Seany, and fair play to you for coming on here and telling people your daily struggle.

Go back to the Doctor or change your Doctor, surely in this day and age there's a tablet that will sort your panic attacks and get you back on your feet...

Best of luck!

Haha I am a cnut though.
After trying some load of different tablets. May see if anything new on the market sure. No harm trying

Acupuncture helped me a lot, just the one they do on your ears. And those little stress beads that you wear on the pressure point behind your ears worked too, the idea is to press on them when you feel 'an episode' (as I call it) coming on you.

Partizan

letsbet wrote: »

I'd be surprised if the Gardai called many as suicide unless they were absolutely sure. It'd take a brave Garda and a bit of guessing to call a fatal car crash with one driver suicide but some will be. The experts say that there is a very large under-reporting of the number of suicides. Can't quite remember the figures but at least 50% higher as far as I remember.

Bang on the button. The rate of suicide in this country has been woefully undereported for decades due to a variety of factors but the main one still is the stigma attached to suicide in particular the victim's family that is left behind to cope. Suicide was considered a mortal sin by the Catholic Church and the body was not permitted to be buried in holy ground but always outside it. This stigma still persists today in rural areas.

My Landlord who is from Cavan tells me of a huge jump in suicides over the last 12 months, all by young men who have been hit hard by the economic depression and have been struggling to pay mortgages and other loans etc. Many of them lost their jobs and are unable to cope so they take the suicide route. It is the same in Waterford. What he tells me is that the families often put pressure on the local Coroner or Gardaí to rule the death as 'Death by Misadventure' so as to remove the stigma. Lone car fatalities have tell tale signs as no skidmarks on the road preceeding to the crash site. Likewise incidents in which motorists inexplicably drive off piers and cliffs into the sea or river and drown.

Hushing up the problem which has been the traditional 'solution' will not make it go away. There needs to be a full and frank discussion on this subject. The Government could start by highlighting suicide awareness in our schools and workplaces and stop cutting back on mental health and counselling services. Each and everyone of us has an important role to play. Spot the signs and help to a relative or friend. Nobody is alone, help is out there. Just pick up the phone.