Advertisement
If you have a new account but are having problems posting or verifying your account, please email us on hello@boards.ie for help. Thanks :)
Hello all! Please ensure that you are posting a new thread or question in the appropriate forum. The Feedback forum is overwhelmed with questions that are having to be moved elsewhere. If you need help to verify your account contact hello@boards.ie
Hi there,
There is an issue with role permissions that is being worked on at the moment.
If you are having trouble with access or permissions on regional forums please post here to get access: https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058365403/you-do-not-have-permission-for-that#latest

Suicide in Ireland.

  • 08-05-2016 5:30pm
    #1
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 31,510 ✭✭✭✭


    I'm nearly in my mid twenties and one guy who I went to school with took his own life a few years ago. In my opinion he got involved in the wrong crowd and dropped out of school.
    There is another school in the town and there seems to be a problem with suicide with its pupils and past pupils. School seems to be doing everything possible with the issue.
    One thing I do notice is when somebody commits suicide sometimes people can go into social media overdrive taking about the person and they might influence another vunerable young person.
    Another few men who'd have being older who committed suicide had trouble gambling, got caught drink driving, etc.
    Speaking about the issue with my mother who'd be in her fifties she says there are more sucicdes now than when she was younger.
    In my town I remember a few suicides in the mid 2000's I remember people saying that people couldn't keep up with people during the boom and then it was because of recession in the late 2000's.
    I do think talking about the issue is important and supporting people when they need help. I also think there can be a lot of pressure put on people to be very successful either through doing a good leaving cert and get a course with high point.(which the person might have no interest in). Social media can also play apart in it when somebody might feel lonely. They can see loads of people have a good time and them being sat at home alone. Social media does have lots of benefits and some people really need to learn how to use it for the better in my opinion.
    Is suicide an issue in your area either now or the past?


«1

Comments

  • Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 31,117 ✭✭✭✭snubbleste


    Has this not been done to death on AH already so to speak?


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 20,661 ✭✭✭✭kneemos


    Suicide was hidden in the past,it was one of the big sins in the church,and it was bizzarly illegal for some reason.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 35,198 ✭✭✭✭NIMAN


    I think suicide is an issue all over the country to be honest, there isn't many places untouched by it.

    I would agree that social media will have an influence in how people think about themselves and might lower their self-esteem etc, but whether or not we can apportion any blame for people taking their own lives is questionable.

    People commited suicide before social media. Maybe its highlighted more now, I don't know. I would wonder how accurate any statistics there are out there re: suicide are. I am sure many deaths were suicides but maybe not reported as, for example, car crashes.

    I do think there is definitely more pressure on people nowadays with regard to money, career, friends, looks, qualifications, probably because we are so connected.

    We are seeing a lot more coverage of mental health issues now in the media. It is no longer a taboo subject and it is getting easier to say you are depressed than ever before. Whether or not the services are there to deal with it is another debate.

    I also know a few people who have commited suicide over recent years, a neighbour and someone I used to work closely with. All younger than myself. It is a hard thing to grasp that people can get that low.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 31,510 ✭✭✭✭freshpopcorn


    kneemos wrote: »
    Suicide was hidden in the past,it was one of the big sins in the church,and it was bizzarly illegal for some reason.

    That's something I often wondered was there many suicides in Ireland before.
    My mother who's in her fifties did hear of a few when she was growing up.
    Even today lots of suicides are still covered up are deaths by misadventure.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 7,682 ✭✭✭frozenfrozen


    I think there are at least 2, maybe 3 people who have killed themselves from my year in secondary school and another few from the years close to it. another 3 or 4 from my college, and tens of friends of friends and then a massive amount of people I've just heard of but had no connection to, all in the last 4-5 years.

    It is a massive issue in Limerick


  • Advertisement
  • Posts: 0 [Deleted User]


    Live in Kerry so suicide is a huge issue, would know of 3 that I was in class with or played football with, and a lot more that would be sorta friends of friends, neighbours of friends and so on. Some of them are unusual, like a man I know if in his 80s in the last year. Rural isolation is an issue for many, I think the fellows I know may have felt they hadn't achieved what they may have wanted and possibly felt life was passing them by. It's a very complex area, and don't want to reduce it to one or 2 minor issues, but when people sneer at issues like the demise of the pub in rural Ireland they don't realise that such places were often the only contact that many had with other people...and clearly not the healthiest place for someone with perhaps feelings of despondency or loneliness but perhaps better than no contact at all. Anyway, I may be a bit all over the place on this, and the are a huge number of factors at play. But think there is very little support in rural areas, and very little reaching out to such services as may be available by those who may be vulnerable. I would say that I wince at the thought of someone opting for suicide when faced with a driving ban...it seems so pointless but it's very easy for me to say, again the car may have been the only thing keeping them in contact with others.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 874 ✭✭✭FalconGirl


    It's a national emergency nowadays. I'd say there isn't a community in Ireland that hasn't been affected by it in the last few years. Ireland's modern shame in my opinion that we are not dealing with it effectively.

    I live in North Kildare where it's a massive issue. There were 3 youngsters in one leaving cert class that did it last year.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 20,661 ✭✭✭✭kneemos


    That's something I often wondered was there many suicides in Ireland before.
    My mother who's in her fifties did hear of a few when she was growing up.
    Even today lots of suicides are still covered up are deaths by misadventure.


    Euphemisms are still used,died suddenly or was found dead for example.
    Never heard much about it years ago either tbh.Think it was mostly covered up and recorded as something else.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 18,832 ✭✭✭✭_Brian


    I live in rural Ireland and am in my 40's now. By the time I'd finished college at 19 I knew 7 people directly who had committed suicide over a three year period. I'd say in the 20 years since I could name another 10.

    Some "fell in with the wrong crowd" as op said. But most were ordinary folk who just couldn't see any way forward. Some to this day 20 years later I can't believe did what they did, good circumstances jobs, partners and futures.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 3,920 ✭✭✭clsmooth


    Is the incidence as high in Dublin?


  • Advertisement
  • Posts: 0 [Deleted User]


    clsmooth wrote: »
    Is the incidence as high in Dublin?

    I suspect the incidence is high across the country, but my experience is of living in South Kerry and it's passed into a fact of life here, many people will end theirs at their own hands. I can't pretend to know anything about life in Dublin, I suspect it is high there but the causes may not be exactly the same. I suspect true deprivation rather than social and geographical isolation may be more of an issue. Here in South Kerry I know people with pretty decent farms who committed suicide, so it wasn't despondency about income alone, it was more the futility of a lonely life...but again the issue is complex and I think anyone in the city may also feel isolated even if not geographically so.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 7,631 ✭✭✭Dirty Dingus McGee


    A fella I was friends with in school killed himself a few years ago he was only 25.

    I can perfectly understand why someone would do it I've often had suicidal thoughts myself I'd never do it as quiet simply I wouldn't have the guts to do it.It must take an unbelievable amount of bravery to take that final step and kill yourself.

    To be honest I think the complexity of modern life compared to the past and the greater expectations put on people has to have had some impact on the number of suicides in Ireland.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 2,678 ✭✭✭lawlolawl


    From personal experience, i find that Irish society puts an awful lot of pressure on young men in particular and some people are ill suited to deal with it. We can be very "cliquey" so if a young fella isn't into sports or a drinker or basically isn't "one of the lads" then they are pretty much nonexistent in their peers eyes.

    Academic achievement has far too much stock put in it as well and a lot of 17-18 year olds see it as THE biggest deciding factor in how the rest of their life will be when it simply isn't.

    Even as they progress through their 20s, there is still the expectation that they should have a steady girlfriend/fiancee/wife or at least be successful with women (that can have a huge effect on gay guys who may only be finding their feet at this stage), have a good job, etc and then be settled down by their late 20s. That doesn't happen for some young men so they end up feeling inadequate and it can cause huge mental health problems.

    I'm 33 myself, single and i'm reasonably happy with my life at the moment but doubts about where i am in life do start to creep in when people look at you funny for saying you are single, have no children and live alone. It feels a bit like people are silently pitying you and it makes you think: "Christ, have i actually ****ed up my life?".

    We can have all the campaigns and charity events in the world but it is a bit odd to do that on one hand and then have these nigh-on set in stone expectations for young men as well. I can't comment about how it is for women obviously but i would imagine a decent amount of them feel the same.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 21,828 ✭✭✭✭PARlance


    I recall reading some survey a couple of years ago stating that the Midlands / West (or whatever Region they call it) has the highest rate of suicide in Europe.

    I've lost one friend and one close acquaintance in the past 5 years. Both males in their 20's.

    While it was hidden in the past, I do feel that there is a slight risk of it being glamified these days. I'm not sure how much that would affect someone with suicidal thoughts, but I'm sure it doesn't help. My friends brother gave a powerful speech about it at the funeral. Whilst he thanked everyone for the huge support and messages on SM, he made sure to hit home just how horrible the loss is.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 10,117 ✭✭✭✭Junkyard Tom


    lawlolawl wrote: »
    when people look at you funny for saying you are single, have no children and live alone.

    I had good friends who were quick to pronounce 'I'll never settle down, me' while they secretly ached for precisely that. First chance they got to get hitched and they were gone. If people give you funny looks for not following the herd they're probably either regretful for acting reflexively on their own insecurities/societal pressures or are just plain stupid.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 4,456 ✭✭✭astonaidan


    Just echoing what the guy was saying about rural Ireland, I feel my home town has a lot of the factors he mentioned. If you go to a bar you will see 15 guys to 1 girl. Its sad but alot of these lads will be batchelors, its become so much more common here, since most girls went away to college and didnt come back, where the guys all stayed and did a trade. One of my friends doesnt go out anymore, he will never meet a girl in his house, right now he has two social connections outside playing playstation, I feel sorry for this lad as I think hes a great lad, I just dont see a massive future for him, hopefully he proves me wrong and makes me look like a idiot


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 31,510 ✭✭✭✭freshpopcorn


    astonaidan wrote: »
    Just echoing what the guy was saying about rural Ireland, I feel my home town has a lot of the factors he mentioned. If you go to a bar you will see 15 guys to 1 girl. Its sad but alot of these lads will be batchelors, its become so much more common here, since most girls went away to college and didnt come back, where the guys all stayed and did a trade. One of my friends doesnt go out anymore, he will never meet a girl in his house, right now he has two social connections outside playing playstation, I feel sorry for this lad as I think hes a great lad, I just dont see a massive future for him, hopefully he proves me wrong and makes me look like a idiot

    Just note I'm not disregarding what your saying.
    I know plenty of people who are happy in there home town, working on a farm, doing a trade and being single. The only thing that gets them down is society saying you've got to go to college and get a degree and get married and have children.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 25,125 ✭✭✭✭My name is URL


    One thing I do notice is when somebody commits suicide sometimes people can go into social media overdrive

    Yeah, people are idiots.

    Even mainstream media does this now though, in spite of guidelines that they shouldn't.

    Look at the coverage that 'online bullying' gets in relation to just regular bullying. And the way it's always portrayed as something that almost inevitably leads to suicide.

    It's disgusting but people eat that stuff up... people are idiots.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,499 ✭✭✭Carlos Orange


    clsmooth wrote: »
    Is the incidence as high in Dublin?

    Dublin has the lowest suicide rate (or near enough). They list 34 areas (counties and cities) and the pieces that make up Dublin are 27,32,33 and 34. Wicklow , Meath and Donegal are 28,29 and 31.


    http://nsrf.ie/statistics/suicide/


  • Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 2,986 ✭✭✭philstar


    PARlance wrote: »
    I recall reading some survey a couple of years ago stating that the Midlands / West (or whatever Region they call it) has the highest rate of suicide in Europe.

    not surprised its a dismal kip, populated by dismal looking towns

    there's been a spike in Laois recently

    http://www.irishtimes.com/news/social-affairs/clergy-dealing-with-suicide-becoming-sacramental-firemen-1.2618059


  • Advertisement
  • Posts: 0 [Deleted User]


    We are extremely social beings. We base our sense of worth on how we feel we compare to our peers. In the 1960s or before, when most people were just getting by, had low aspirations, low expectations, Ireland had among the lowest suicide rates in the world. Back then if your family didn't have the money you just didn't go to college, or even do your inter cert, so you got to feel that it was outside forces that were responsible for you not "getting a chance to" achieve highly - and your peers were likely in the same boat, working on the farm, or a factory, or getting an entry level job somewhere and working your way up with less pressure than nowadays. Nowadays if you "fail" in life, the blame is deemed to be all your own, since the system is set up to give everyone a "free" shot at achieving. This is one factor among many many I can think of for why there seems to be a real thread of disturbance among people nowadays. Social media and the internet has been the added ingredient which has exacerbated all this. Those who would have been popular and confident anyway now have added confidence that this is the case. Those who would have felt bad about themselves anyway, now feel they are socially worthless.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 43,037 ✭✭✭✭SEPT 23 1989


    I think drink & drugs plays a big part in the problem


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,116 ✭✭✭PMBC


    I agree; it is in a lot of cases particularly booze which is chemically a depressant.

    I find it offensive the poster describing the midlands as 'a dismal kip' particularly kip since it means brothel. Towns like Edenderry, Portarlington, Monasterevin do have their visual and social problems but beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Once a poet talked about the beauty in a rose and another of the beauty of small things. We all need to be educated to see that beauty, at least occasionally.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,860 ✭✭✭Ragnar Lothbrok


    Even today lots of suicides are still covered up are deaths by misadventure.

    I don't think it's correct to say these deaths are "covered up" by calling them death by misadventure. If there's no suicide note, or other clear indication that the person definitely intended to take their own life, the coroner has to rule it as death by misadventure, even if everyone suspects it was in fact a suicide.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 43,037 ✭✭✭✭SEPT 23 1989


    if there is alcohol or drugs in the persons system its put down as death by misadventure


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 4,456 ✭✭✭astonaidan


    Just note I'm not disregarding what your saying.
    I know plenty of people who are happy in there home town, working on a farm, doing a trade and being single. The only thing that gets them down is society saying you've got to go to college and get a degree and get married and have children.

    Oh for sure, my point was I could understand them being lonely and why it may be more prevalent in the future. My home town has a crazy high percentage of men from my generation.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 3,419 ✭✭✭cowboyBuilder


    I wonder how Ireland compares with the rest of Europe ?
    and would it be the worst if just taking rural areas into account ?


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 7,551 ✭✭✭panda100


    It is a massive issue in Limerick

    No actually its not. We have a moderate suicide rate with comparison with the rest of the world. The only difference is that the local Limerick media and people appear to be obsessed with suicide so is highlighted much more than it should be.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 145 ✭✭George Michael


    lawlolawl wrote: »
    From personal experience, i find that Irish society puts an awful lot of pressure on young men in particular and some people are ill suited to deal with it. We can be very "cliquey" so if a young fella isn't into sports or a drinker or basically isn't "one of the lads" then they are pretty much nonexistent in their peers eyes.

    Academic achievement has far too much stock put in it as well and a lot of 17-18 year olds see it as THE biggest deciding factor in how the rest of their life will be when it simply isn't.

    Even as they progress through their 20s, there is still the expectation that they should have a steady girlfriend/fiancee/wife or at least be successful with women (that can have a huge effect on gay guys who may only be finding their feet at this stage), have a good job, etc and then be settled down by their late 20s. That doesn't happen for some young men so they end up feeling inadequate and it can cause huge mental health problems.

    I'm 33 myself, single and i'm reasonably happy with my life at the moment but doubts about where i am in life do start to creep in when people look at you funny for saying you are single, have no children and live alone. It feels a bit like people are silently pitying you and it makes you think: "Christ, have i actually ****ed up my life?".

    We can have all the campaigns and charity events in the world but it is a bit odd to do that on one hand and then have these nigh-on set in stone expectations for young men as well. I can't comment about how it is for women obviously but i would imagine a decent amount of them feel the same.

    this a hundred percent.


  • Advertisement
  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 952 ✭✭✭s4uv3


    PMBC wrote: »
    I agree; it is in a lot of cases particularly booze which is chemically a depressant.

    I find it offensive the poster describing the midlands as 'a dismal kip' particularly kip since it means brothel. Towns like Edenderry, Portarlington, Monasterevin do have their visual and social problems but beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Once a poet talked about the beauty in a rose and another of the beauty of small things. We all need to be educated to see that beauty, at least occasionally.

    Beauty has little to do with it imo. It's more about the repressive feel of some small towns and villages. I grew up in one such village, moving to a larger, more prosperous town as a ten year old.
    Even at that age I remember noticing the difference in the demeanour of my neighbours and even felt it myself. I suddenly had more 'options' than the "drag yourself through school and find a job in a factory and get hold of a husband" norm that I saw all around me.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 145 ✭✭George Michael


    i know a couple who committed suicide in my area. for one guy he saw himself as failure because he didnt have a job or girlfriend.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 7,682 ✭✭✭frozenfrozen


    panda100 wrote: »
    No actually its not. We have a moderate suicide rate with comparison with the rest of the world. The only difference is that the local Limerick media and people appear to be obsessed with suicide so is highlighted much more than it should be.

    ???????????? I'm giving my personal experience that here in Limerick it's a massive issue. That's great if it works out to be a 'moderate' suicide rate compared to the rest of the world but that rate just so happens to match up exactly with people I know

    Every time I look out the window there's a ****ing helicopter looking for someone in the shannon


  • Posts: 0 [Deleted User]


    It is the culture we all live within and contribute to that causes depression and suicide and all the well meaning charitable events will not change this fact. The struggle to feed, heat, clothe etc. oneself and ones family has been replaced with a struggle to remain psychologically intact when our minds' operating time is freed up to be concerned with other stuff.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 828 ✭✭✭wokingvoter


    kneemos wrote: »
    Suicide was hidden in the past,it was one of the big sins in the church,and it was bizzarly illegal for some reason.

    But since the church has quenched it's light here, and suicide is no longer illegal, it's reached epidemic proportions.
    How do you feel about that?


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 17,300 ✭✭✭✭razorblunt


    Had a family member commit suicide in their early 70s. I still remember the shock and sudden impact of it.
    Thankfully it's not something I've come across since in my close circle, or even with lads I knew from school.

    There was a poor lad who was in my rugby team back when we were 12/13, lovely guy, quite soft natured, you could tell he was the type of guy who might have got bullied, think he was sent along as a "toughen him up" exercise. Never quite took to the rugby, was too timid, but got on well with everyone. Didn't come back the next season.
    Saw his name in the paper 2 years later, the guy had hung himself using his fathers weights.

    In hindsight given the focus on suicide the last few years, that was an incredibly young age.


  • Advertisement
  • Closed Accounts Posts: 874 ✭✭✭FalconGirl


    panda100 wrote: »
    No actually its not. We have a moderate suicide rate with comparison with the rest of the world. The only difference is that the local Limerick media and people appear to be obsessed with suicide so is highlighted much more than it should be.

    It's a massive issue countrywide and I'd go as far as saying a huge chunk of it is being covered up. I'm not buying into that moderate compared with the rest of the world balloney. I've lost a father and an uncle to it. I've known many many more. There is something very sick in our society caused by a variation of factors.

    Your attitude is worringly dismissive towards a huge crisis.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,424 ✭✭✭bernard0368


    Since I lost my son to suicide,
    I have net people from all parts of society who have lost a loved one. I find it a little hard to put a finger on any one cause in particular. I am not sure I could even tell you why my own son took his life.

    I firmly believe that our mental health system is unfit for purpose and there will be no change in it until such time people are held to account for the actions and decisions. (There is a story here for another day)

    There were two things that did strike me after my sons death.

    A week after the funeral I visited my sons grave, to find a nun praying over it. We got talking and she told me that once a week she visits the graves of people who have died in the community. My son was the 12th suicide she prayed for in that one week and she wasn't finished she believed that she was to pray over 5/6 more.

    The other was the coroner, who offered us a couple of options on wording that could be used on the death cert. It did make me think at the time that there could be a lot of unrecorded suicides in this country.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 17,495 ✭✭✭✭eviltwin


    Since I lost my son to suicide,
    I have net people from all parts of society who have lost a loved one. I find it a little hard to put a finger on any one cause in particular. I am not sure I could even tell you why my own son took his life.

    I firmly believe that our mental health system is unfit for purpose and there will be no change in it until such time people are held to account for the actions and decisions. (There is a story here for another day)

    There were two things that did strike me after my sons death.

    A week after the funeral I visited my sons grave, to find a nun praying over it. We got talking and she told me that once a week she visits the graves of people who have died in the community. My son was the 12th suicide she prayed for in that one week and she wasn't finished she believed that she was to pray over 5/6 more.

    The other was the coroner, who offered us a couple of options on wording that could be used on the death cert. It did make me think at the time that there could be a lot of unrecorded suicides in this country.


    I'm so sorry for your loss Bernard


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 9,622 ✭✭✭Ruu


    Two cousins within the last 5 years (from Dublin) and three schoolmates from small town, at least one of them ran into debt and couldn't see a way out, this I hear is a common theme. Another friend has attempted a number of times and only for he uses ECT sessions regularly again, he wouldn't be around either.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 4,981 ✭✭✭KomradeBishop


    The new government goals, aim to have unemployment at 6% by 2021 - i.e. well over a decade of high unemployment, leaving a portion of a whole generation of people, behind.

    When you live in a society that views it as acceptable, to leave people behind like that, and for such conditions to last more than a decade (in reality, it may be multiple decades, as we're in for more economic trouble) - then it's no surprise that suicide will become a serious problem.

    To stem high suicide rates, you need to make sure that everybody has the opportunity to work (particularly fulfilling work), and to earn enough to live a decent life, so that they can have a secure chance at having good future prospects.

    In a system where long-term high unemployment is acceptable, some portion of people will have poor future prospects as a result of that, and many of them will have materially or socially or otherwise deprived lives, which may drive them to suicide.


  • Advertisement
  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 3,022 ✭✭✭xabi


    panda100 wrote: »
    No actually its not. We have a moderate suicide rate with comparison with the rest of the world. The only difference is that the local Limerick media and people appear to be obsessed with suicide so is highlighted much more than it should be.

    Limerick City has the highest rate in the country, unfortunately.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 2,678 ✭✭✭lawlolawl


    The new government goals, aim to have unemployment at 6% by 2021 - i.e. well over a decade of high unemployment, leaving a portion of a whole generation of people, behind.

    When you live in a society that views it as acceptable, to leave people behind like that, and for such conditions to last more than a decade (in reality, it may be multiple decades, as we're in for more economic trouble) - then it's no surprise that suicide will become a serious problem.

    To stem high suicide rates, you need to make sure that everybody has the opportunity to work (particularly fulfilling work), and to earn enough to live a decent life, so that they can have a secure chance at having good future prospects.

    In a system where long-term high unemployment is acceptable, some portion of people will have poor future prospects as a result of that, and many of them will have materially or socially or otherwise deprived lives, which may drive them to suicide.

    I'm not entirely sure jobs have that much to do with it to be honest.

    You could have the greatest job in the country and still be utterly miserable with your life otherwise.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 19,727 ✭✭✭✭Muahahaha


    One thing I do notice is when somebody commits suicide sometimes people can go into social media overdrive taking about the person and they might influence another vunerable young person.

    This is very true and has been studied extensively. Its called suicide clustering.
    What is Suicidal Contagion and what are Suicide Clusters?

    It has long been believed that when suicidal contagion occurs, a suicide
    cluster can develop. A cluster, in this case, is defined as multiple suicidal
    behaviours or suicides that fall within an accelerated time frame, and
    sometimes within a defined geographical area. Studies have shown that
    adolescents are the ones most affected (Zenere, 2009).

    There are two main types of clusters. A mass cluster involves suicides
    that cluster in time - irrespective of geography - and are often associated
    with the influence that media reports may have, such as suicides by
    celebrities. Point clusters involve suicides that are close in time and/
    or space. They often occur within institutional settings such as hospitals,
    prisons, or schools, or within distinct communities.
    https://suicideinfo.ca/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=WXg70KbEYsA=

    After Kurt Cobain and Marilyn Monroe committed suicide the rates rose nationally.

    More local there might have been a suicide cluster in Newbridge, Kildare just 6 weeks ago. 5 men, all in their 30s and 40s were lost to suicide. They may not have known one another but its likely that they were already suffering mental health problems and when one person locally went by suicide it planted the idea in their head.
    The tragic deaths of five young men in the Newbridge area over the past month has raised fears of a possible suicide cluster in the Co Kildare town.
    The deaths, four in the town and one nearby, has caused shock in the area. Three were in their 30s, and one in his early 40s.
    No obvious link between the deaths has been established, though two of the men were related and two lived on the same estate in Newbridge. The most recent death was of a young father a week ago.
    http://www.irishtimes.com/news/health/five-suicides-in-newbridge-co-kildare-raise-fears-of-cluster-1.2589867


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,699 ✭✭✭mud


    panda100 wrote: »
    No actually its not. We have a moderate suicide rate with comparison with the rest of the world. The only difference is that the local Limerick media and people appear to be obsessed with suicide so is highlighted much more than it should be.


    I don't think it's helpful to compare Ireland with the rest of the world. We are a very small fish in that particular pond.

    Limerick has a very high if not the highest rate of suicide in Ireland. I don't understand your point when you say that suicide is highlighted more than it should be? Do you want to continue covering it up or what's the story?


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 31,510 ✭✭✭✭freshpopcorn


    I don't think it's correct to say these deaths are "covered up" by calling them death by misadventure. If there's no suicide note, or other clear indication that the person definitely intended to take their own life, the coroner has to rule it as death by misadventure, even if everyone suspects it was in fact a suicide.

    What I was referring to was what this poster experienced.

    The other was the coroner, who offered us a couple of options on wording that could be used on the death cert. It did make me think at the time that there could be a lot of unrecorded suicides in this country.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 1,284 ✭✭✭StewartGriffin


    Are there any scientific studies done on how to tackle the problem though? Any measures taken in places like Norway, Australia or Russia to tackle their high suicide rates and did they actually work? I'm a little unsure how events like Cycle Against Suicide actually help the problem.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 828 ✭✭✭wokingvoter


    The other was the coroner, who offered us a couple of options on wording that could be used on the death cert. It did make me think at the time that there could be a lot of unrecorded suicides in this country

    ^^^^^^^
    This
    Lots and lots of family members and loved ones, for many different reasons, just don't want a death Cert that says suicide.
    They want to believe and they want others to pretend to believe, that Conor didn't know their was another bullet in the chamber or that Mary slipped and fell of the pier when she was s bit light headed
    For some people acknowledging the fact that your loved one ended their own life means acknowledging that the loved one wasn't loved enough, by you, or at least didn't feel loved enough.
    And that's intolerable.
    Maybe down the road in a few years they will face it just not yet.
    And still yes there is some shame. The whispers. The speculation. The blame game.
    But we mustn't force the ones left behind to acknowledge what is blatantly obvious to the "spectators" .
    I don't see how having to "admi" "My son killed himself " is going to prevent others from taking that final step.


  • Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 214 ✭✭edbrez


    Are there any scientific studies done on how to tackle the problem though?
    Said this on another thread but got a warning: depressed people should be taking vitamin D pills daily. Here's another article: https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/evolutionary-psychiatry/201301/suicide-and-vitamin-d


  • Posts: 21,679 ✭✭✭✭ [Deleted User]


    edbrez wrote: »
    Said this on another thread but got a warning: depressed people should be taking vitamin D pills daily. Here's another article: https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/evolutionary-psychiatry/201301/suicide-and-vitamin-d

    Clinical depression is complex. Vitamins, healthy diet, exercise, etc. They don't work for all sufferers and often are carried out in conjunction with therapy and/or medication


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 5,092 ✭✭✭catbear


    Spent a few years in australia recently and was really surprised by how much they cover up talking about suicide there. Even stories where it was so obviously a suicide of someone of note the whole thing would be presented as tragic circumstances without ever mentioning suicide.

    My local train would be interrupted by a jumper every now and again and the transport staff would have no problem telling you the train will be moving again once they clean up the mess but no where would the incident be covered by the media. The whole avoidance of mentioning the word suicide just seem to make it harder to deal with it there.


  • Advertisement
Advertisement