Up to 10,000 cases of attempted suicide are being treated by Irish hospitals every year, according to estimates published yesterday.
The figure is contained in the first annual report of the National Parasuicide Registry, set up in January 2001 to gauge the extent of attempted suicide in the State and to develop strategies to prevent it.
The report contains data of cases presenting at accident and emergency departments in four health board areas - the Midland, Mid-Western, South Eastern and Southern health boards - over a full year and data collected over a six-month period in the North Eastern Health Board area.
Given that these five boards constitute just under half of the national population, assumptions are drawn for the whole State.
The total number of attempted suicides, or parasuicides, recorded in these five areas during 2001 was 3,992.
That figure can be broken down as follows: Southern Health Board - 1,085; South Eastern Health Board - 1,049; Mid-Western Health Board - 966; Midland Health Board - 520 and North Eastern Health Board - 372. The report said one in every 40 of these patients left accident and emergency departments without being seen.
More women than men were treated for attempted suicide in all regions. On average, 56 per cent of cases were among women and 44 per cent among men.
Over one-third of attempted suicides among women occurred when they were aged between 15 and 24, while nearly half occurred among men when they were between 20 and 32 years.
"On the basis of the data collected over 2001, the registry would currently estimate that the number of hospital-treated cases of parasuicide in Ireland is between 9,000 and 10,000," said director Prof Ivan Perry.