PEOPLE SUFFERING from stress should seek help as early as possible, the Samaritans said yesterday on the eve of World Suicide Prevention Day.
Suzanne Costello, national director of Samaritans Ireland, said early intervention was important before the stress became too much for an individual. It was important they spoke to friends or family, their GP, the Samaritans or whoever they felt most comfortable with.
She stressed lack of money should not be a reason to fail to seek help. If an individual had little credit on their mobile phone the Samaritans could call them back, she said. And while she said the Samaritans had anecdotal evidence some people were choosing not to attend their doctors because of the high cost of visits “people should contact their GP because if they are in distress money won’t be an issue”.
Today has been designated World Suicide Prevention Day by the World Health Organisation and the International Association for Suicide Prevention. The organisation says almost 3,000 people die by suicide daily and for every person who completes suicide, 20 or more may attempt to end their own lives.
“At the global level, awareness needs to be raised that suicide is a major preventable cause of premature death,” it said.
A candlelight vigil to mark World Suicide Prevention Day will take place in Dublin city centre this evening. The vigil at College Green from 8pm to 9pm will be the first of three vigils in coming days during which family, friends and colleagues of loved ones lost to suicide are invited to light a candle in their memory.
Organised by the charity 3Ts, Turning The Tide of Suicide, the other two vigils will take place at the Bull Ring in Wexford from 8pm-9pm next Wednesday and at St Nicholas’ Collegiate Church, Galway, from 8pm-9pm next Thursday.
Figures published earlier this year show 527 people died by suicide in the Republic last year, a 24 per cent increase on the previous year.
The Samaritans and Pieta House, a centre for the prevention of suicide and self-harm in Dublin, have seen a significant increase in demand for their services over the past year since the recession deepened.
Ms Costello said the Samaritans had seen a significant increase in calls to its 24-hour helpline over the summer and that one in 10 calls to the Samaritans is now recession-related. Pieta House said earlier this year it was experiencing an increase in the number of attempted suicides by children. It said this too was a direct result of the recession.
Meanwhile, Ms Costello said that given all the different groups working towards suicide prevention, there is a level of duplication which needs to be addressed.
“I think there is nobody in the sector that does not have the best intentions . . . but I think a lot could be said for working more closely together to close the gaps that exist and to minimise the duplication that exists at a time when funding is going to be tight for everybody,” she said.
- The Samaritans can be reached on their 24-hour helpline, 1850 60 90 90.