THE NO Name Club, which runs alcohol-free youth events, has expressed concern at the very high rate of youth suicide and has begun to train its adult volunteers to identify suicidal behaviour.
Ireland has the fifth-highest rate of youth suicide in the EU, after Lithuania, Estonia, Finland and Latvia. Suicide is the leading cause of death among 15 to 24-year-old males.
The No Name Club held a workshop for its adult volunteers in Dublin on Saturday to highlight the incidence of suicide and to help them identify the warning signs.
Martin Ryan, No Name Club chief executive, said the organisation was determined to ensure that volunteers were able to detect the early signs and help young people to develop coping strategies for stress.
“There is an awful lot of pressure on young people, whether it’s study, alcohol or substance misuse or peer pressure,” he said. “No Name Club allows young people to organise and enjoy events and activities without the pressures of alcohol and drugs.”
He said mental health was “the number one health issue” for young people and the No Name Club had a role in promoting health among its members.
Some 70 per cent of health problems of young people are attributable to mental disorders and substance abuse, according to Headstrong, the National Centre for Youth Mental Health.
Bernie Carroll, HSE West suicide prevention resource officer, told No Name Club adult volunteers that they should take all threats of suicide seriously.
She cautioned against giving quick advice such as saying “everything will be all right” and encouraged volunteers to listen to teenagers and show them that they care. While some people fear that raising the issue of suicide suggests the idea to an unhappy teenager, she said people should not be afraid to be direct and ask the person if he or she is contemplating suicide.
Emotional warning signs such as pain, hopelessness and powerlessness were not easily identified, Ms Carroll said, but risk factors should be noted.
They include mental illness, confusion about sexual identity, compulsive extreme perfectionism, abuse and a lack of skills to manage decision-making, problem-solving or anger.
She said suicide may be triggered in such a vulnerable individual by an event like a family breakdown, death of a loved one, a relationship break-up, alcohol/ drug abuse, bullying or disappointment with exam results.
However, she stressed that individual events did not bring about suicidal behaviour and it was rare that a suicide could be explained by a single event.
“Some situations may precipitate a suicidal event but it is how the individual perceives the situation that determines how they cope with it.”
Ms Carroll also highlighted the high incidence of deliberate self-harm among teenagers.
The greatest incidence of deliberate self-harm is found in the 15 to 19-year-old age group, the target age for No Name Club membership. Healthy socialising and warm, accepting friendships with family and friends were important ways of protecting against suicide, Ms Carroll said.
