Increase in calls to Samaritans

Calls to the Samaritans help line were up by 9 per cent in the last 12 months, its annual report shows.

Samaritans Ireland Impact Report November 2010 to October 2011, launched this morning, shows over 400,000 people called the help line and almost 265,500 were dialogue calls. Dialogue calls, involving callers who speak rather than stay silent, were up by 22,000 on the same time last year.

And the number of calls that were recession-related was also up, from one in 10 last year to one in eight.

Samaritans Ireland is a volunteer-led organisation that provides emotional support to people experiencing feelings of stress and despair. It has a 24-hour help line, 12 branches nationwide and 13,000 volunteers.

The report, launched by John Buttimer, chairman of the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health, shows volunteers spent almost 56,000 hours listening to callers over the 12-month period. The busiest time for the help line each day was between 6pm and midnight and the busiest day of the week was Saturday.

The busiest day over the 12 months was Saturday May 14th, when almost 1,000 calls were answered around the country.

Issues raised by callers included depression, loneliness, alcohol, physical and mental issues and suicidal thoughts or feelings, as well as recession-related. These had increased in frequency and were very often concerned with financial insecurity.

Suzanne Costello, director of the organisation, said the recession was placing a huge psychological strain on people’s lives.

“At this difficult time, it is important that everyone working to prevent suicide comes together to avoid duplication and makes sure people get the help they need. This way, we can optimise the services available to people who need them without wasting resources,” she said.

She said over the past decade in particular, mental health and suicide-prevention had moved up the agenda in Ireland, which the organisation welcomed.

Increased services and visibility was helping to break down the stigma associated with mental health and suicide, she said.

“However, it’s equally important that a balance of services exists, so that people with varying degrees of needs are catered for, and that no one who looks for help slips through the net because the services are not there when needed.”

Mr Buttimer said the “huge level of contact” made to Samaritans in the past 12 months was not only an indication of the strain which people find themselves under, but was also a testament to the support on offer.

“People contact Samaritans because they know they will receive a professional and confidential service, no matter what time of day or night it is,” he said.

The Samaritans help line number is 1850 60 90 90.