FOR THE past week, the brave and dignified voices of bereaved families, and those who have attempted to take their own lives, have provided a window into the devastation caused by suicide. Each account in Carl O'Brien's Stories of Suicideseries has revealed a different aspect to what is the most complex of social problems. Suicide does not discriminate between age, gender or social background. Each person faced different circumstances or challenges in the period prior to taking their own life. What is consistent, however, is how the legacy has frightened, confused and devastated families and friends.
These families ought to be commended not just for their courage in telling their stories, but for opening a debate about what remains the unspoken social phenomenon of our age. The stigma of suicide has left these issues shrouded in silence and shame for too long. Though this should not be a surprise – suicide was only decriminalised in 1993 and it is only a few decades since Catholics who took their own lives were not allowed to be buried in consecrated ground.
Many readers have contacted The Irish Timesthis week to say that they are only finding the courage now to talk about the deaths of friends or family who took their own lives; others touched by suicide want to see the issues involved being dealt with openly.
The reality is that mental health is everyone’s concern. Statistics show that one in four of us will develop a mental health problem at some stage in our lives. And each of us has a role in changing negative attitudes. In this context there have been encouraging changes at political level in recent years. A national authority, the Health Service Executive’s national office for suicide prevention, helps to co-ordinate and resource the work of suicide prevention. And Minister of State with responsibility for mental health John Moloney has led a campaign – See Change – to help lift the stigma attached to mental health issues.
These are very welcome developments but, as illustrated in Stories of Suicide, they fall well short of what is needed. Successive governments have failed to take mental health seriously enough: we still have an antiquated mental health service with more than 1,000 people languishing in Victorian-era hospitals and there are major gaps in supports for the most vulnerable members of the community. Yet the experience of countries such as Finland shows what can be achieved. For years it was saddled with the highest suicide rate in Europe. Through political leadership, better research, targeted campaigns and improved mental health services, it has reduced the number dying by suicide by about one-third over the past 15 years.
“There is but one truly serious philosophical problem,” Albert Camus wrote, “and that is suicide”. There will always be questions to be answered about what drives people to take their own lives and how to prevent it. But there are some certainties. Only through sustained, focused and properly resourced measures can we support people who have lost their way and help ensure that nobody faces such a crisis on their own.