Mr Mc Entee, will this be a wake up call?

glenkeeran

Respect to the moderator,

I believe there is an epedemic within us and we are to afraid to face it head on.... its called suicide. How do we deal with it, its now nearly 600 people a year. " can you imagine 3 plane crashes in Ireland a year?". There is an underlying issue within our society and we need to deal with it quickly.... not a fan of Fine Geal but the man serve his country with honour and i respect him for that.. RIP mr mc entee and condolences to his loving family.....

pontia

not a big issue because its mostly men,nothing will be done

chughes

Suicide is an epdemic that our society seems unwilling or unable to face up to. In the normal course of events, you would expect some sort of leadership from the government but they are floundering around trying to deal with the economic problem and have no time or inclination to face this issue. I personally know 3 people who have committed suicide in the past 12 months or so. Before that I couldn't think of anyone I knew who had done this. We need a campaign like the road deaths one but, unfortunately, it may take another few Shane McEntee's before someone somewhere makes this happen.

To suggest that religion would be an answer to this epidemic is farcical. Suicide was a sinful act in the eyes of the church and this is largely why it was swept under the carpet or even denied by the familes involved in case it meant that the "departed soul" could not enter heaven. To return to that scenario would make a bad situation even worse.

iratira

What would you suggest could be done? A public awareness campaign or what else?

KyussBishop

The main solution the country needs, is proper mental health support, which requires money to be spent on mental health facilities, outreach programs, and research; however, since government is slashing budgets everywhere, and with this countries mental health support being in such a poor state (requiring significant investment of funds), I highly doubt we will see anywhere near enough action on this, within this decade.

It's a good example, of one place where unnecessary budget constraints (which can be solved by the EU) and austerity in general, is wholly immoral, and leads to needless perfectly avoidable deaths.

iratira

Well they can't keep doctors for a start. They are struggling to fill their psychiatry junior doctor posts more and more.
Maybe thats because the abuse of the doctors in respect of working hours and the HSE insistence that when someone suicides, the nearest psychiatrist should be scapegoated to cover the overall deficient system.
Do you think all suicides involve a mental health issue or do you think some are related to social stressors such as debt etc.
In Spain there is an epidemic of suicides related to evictions.
Should psychiatry be involved with everyone who is suicidal?
Do they have the resources to do that or any abilities to modify social stressors?
Sorry to hear about this man's suicide.
I agree that the right to threaten or intimidate people in positions of 'authority' has become excessive.
It can be forgotten that they are people also.

KyussBishop

iratira wrote: »

Well they can't keep doctors for a start. They are struggling to fill their psychiatry junior doctor posts more and more.
Maybe thats because the abuse of the doctors in respect of working hours and the HSE insistence that when someone suicides, the nearest psychiatrist should be scapegoated to cover the overall deficient system.
Do you think all suicides involve a mental health issue or do you think some are related to psychological or social stressors?
Should psychiatry be involved with everyone who is suicidal?
Do they have the resources to do that or any abilities to modify social stressors?

Social stressors, such as unemployment, are certainly a big part of it alright, yes; if society fails to provide equitable opportunities for everyone, and some people are left to stew without a future or prospects in life, then that's going to cause a fairly big negative effect on those peoples mental health.

So yes, mental health certainly isn't the only issue; mental health support might stop someone committing suicide, but if someone is considering that due to lack of future prospects, mental health support alone, won't resolve the wider issue of unemployment.

southsiderosie

MOD NOTE:

The Peoples Champion banned for trolling, and all of their posts (and responses) have been deleted.

RDM_83 again

In terms of dealing with the issue KyussBishop suggestions are very valid, however I would add the fact and i don;t mean to say it in a controversial way, but socially I am unsure that an acceptance of suicide as something that happens to troubled people is a positive thing for the reduction of the rate even though it is the a healthy and caring attitude to the relatives perhaps there should be a stronger emphasis in campaigns to the damage suicide does to those impacted by it.

The road safety ads (which target a group that are highly at risk of suicide, younger males) often do not focus on the driver even though it is logical to expect that a person would alter their habits in relation to suffering themselves, instead they focus on the impacts of the action on other people.

Even aside from the deeper discussion such direct practical methods as supported volunteers at hot-spots could make a positive impact in terms of direct intervention (the example of I know of is Foyle Search and Rescue in Derry)

im invisible

It'd want to be some wake up call

liammur

When 1 of our Taoisigh told the doomsdayers to go off and commit suicide, and he wasn't forced to resign over it, that was the day I knew we had a real crisis on our hands.

Mr. Incognito

Was just watching the news.

They are commissioning a report on social media and regulation.

Waste of time. Free speech will stamp all over any regulation.

WHOOO.

Ireland, we have a problem.

Quick - Commission a report. Put it on shelf till next thing comes along and then put the old report on the shelf and do nothing.

Look busy. Do nothing. Irish politics

liammur

Mr. Incognito wrote: »

Was just watching the news.

They are commissioning a report on social media and regulation.

Waste of time. Free speech will stamp all over any regulation.

WHOOO.

Ireland, we have a problem.

Quick - Commission a report. Put it on shelf till next thing comes along and then put the old report on the shelf and do nothing.

Look busy. Do nothing. Irish politics

What about these shows like Dave Harvey/Duffy, they are worse than social media imo. Why is there no talk to tackle them?

joseph brand

chughes wrote: »

Suicide is an epdemic that our society seems unwilling or unable to face up to. In the normal course of events, you would expect some sort of leadership from the government but they are floundering around trying to deal with the economic problem and have no time or inclination to face this issue. I personally know 3 people who have committed suicide in the past 12 months or so. Before that I couldn't think of anyone I knew who had done this. We need a campaign like the road deaths one but, unfortunately, it may take another few Shane McEntee's before someone somewhere makes this happen.

To suggest that religion would be an answer to this epidemic is farcical. Suicide was a sinful act in the eyes of the church and this is largely why it was swept under the carpet or even denied by the familes involved in case it meant that the "departed soul" could not enter heaven. To return to that scenario would make a bad situation even worse.

Christina Johansdotter


Because the church taught that suicide was a sin, the woman above, killed a child, knowing she would get the death penalty, thus avoiding suicide. She was able to repent, ask for forgiveness, thereby avoiding hell/purgatory.

I suppose another way would be to shoot someone, wait for armed police and open fire on them in the hope that they kill you. It's just killing oneself by proxy.

So, yes you're correct, religion is is farcical and futile. It could also be argued that it's worse.

We need to create a society where it's perfectly normal to stand up and proclaim; "My name is ______ and I'm fukcin depressed."

Also, AFAIK, and I'm open to correction, depression basically boils down to chemical imbalance. (not in all cases)

There was an interesting image I saw which depicted about 4 test tubes, each with a different chemical, in varying amounts, and the mood caused. I can't find it anywhere sorry.

flutered

Mr. Incognito wrote: »

Was just watching the news.

They are commissioning a report on social media and regulation.

Waste of time. Free speech will stamp all over any regulation.

WHOOO.

Ireland, we have a problem.

Quick - Commission a report. Put it on shelf till next thing comes along and then put the old report on the shelf and do nothing.

Look busy. Do nothing. Irish politics

that td fella tom hayes says that they want to control social media, W.T.F. does that amount to freedom of speech being a thing of the past.

flutered

liammur wrote: »

What about these shows like Dave Harvey/Duffy, they are worse than social media imo. Why is there no talk to tackle them?

because they are not really in the eye of the public so to speak, harvy/duffey in a way have a limited aduence, the 5.30 and the 6.01 are away more watched, the politician can ramble away for a few minutes with no question to answer, just imagne the spoofers like tom hayes, leo the motormouth, phil the fluter etc on either of theose shows, the would be decimated by the two guys in question never mind the public on the fone.

thebman

Mr. Incognito wrote: »

Was just watching the news.

They are commissioning a report on social media and regulation.

Waste of time. Free speech will stamp all over any regulation.

WHOOO.

Ireland, we have a problem.

Quick - Commission a report. Put it on shelf till next thing comes along and then put the old report on the shelf and do nothing.

Look busy. Do nothing. Irish politics

I wouldn't be so complacent. I think a big issue here is the government see their backbenchers getting squirmy over the budget because of negative statements that they get and they want to censor them so that their TD's will fall back in line.

iratira

Probably.... They are probably looking at what way they can make the tragedy work in their favor. Sad but true.