Dáil committee: Education on depression and mental health should be offered to secondary school students to help prevent suicide in young people, a Dáil committee was told yesterday.
A sub-committee of the Joint Committee on Health and Children, which is looking at suicide, was told that an education programme focusing on depression recognition and positive mental health should be introduced as part of the social, personal and health programme already on the secondary curriculum.
Fran Gleeson, southeast regional co-ordinator with Aware, the depression awareness charity, said that education and general coping-skills training would help those with depression and prevent suicide.
"A greater awareness of depression and its effects, coupled with a heightened sensitivity to recognising depression in oneself or a loved one, is crucial in helping to reduce the number of people who die of suicide," he said.
He highlighted the correlation between alcohol consumption and suicide and said research shows that alcohol consumption and suicide rates have increased in parallel by 40 per cent over the 10-year period 1993- 2003.
"A binge pattern of drinking . . . can also lead to disinhibition and a sharp drop in an individual's mood," he said. "It is at this stage that suicide is seen as a meaningful alternative."
He said that educating the public about depression would create a less stigmatising culture.
Michael Egan, of the Living Links organisation, a support organisation for the suicide bereaved, said the stigma around suicide remains an obstacle for those dealing with a suicide in the family or having suicidal thoughts.
"There needs to be a greater awareness to further de-stigmatise suicide," he said. "We have to change our attitude to mental health."
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