of Limerick & Tipperary

Suicide is the act of a person consciously (willingly) ending their own life.

There is no one reason why people take their own lives. It is often as a result of problems building up to the point where the person can see no other way to cope with what they’re experiencing.

Very often people (or the media) look for a ‘cause’ as if there is one factor that has led someone to take their own life. In reality, the way someone feels is a result of many factors. For example, a recent survey of Samaritans callers found that 86% of them were calling about a number of problems or worries rather than one single thing.

The kinds of problems that might increase the risk of suicide include:

• Recent loss or the break up of a close relationship
• An actual or expected unhappy change in circumstances
• Painful and/or disabling physical illness
• Heavy use of, or dependency on alcohol/other drugs
• History of earlier suicide attempts or self-harming
• History of suicide in the family
• Depression

When someone is feeling low or distressed it may be that a seemingly minor event is the trigger for them attempting to kill themselves.

Talking openly about how you really feel can be like opening a door. Talking puts you back in control and reveals the choices you have.

Many people feel pressured into hiding their feelings out of embarrassment or concern not to burden family or friends. But hiding under a calm exterior only saves the problem for later and stress can build up until it becomes unbearable. Don’t leave it that long.

Remember, Samaritans is there to help whatever time of the day or night.

If you think you might benefit from confidential emotional support then we are here for you. You do not have to be suicidal to contact us. We will not judge you if you call. We understand that sometimes it can feel difficult to pick up the telephone, so try an email or write a letter to us instead. Sometimes writing down your thoughts can really help understand them better.

It is estimated that across England and Wales there are as many as 140,000 attempted suicides every year; that’s one attempt every 4 minutes. About 24,000 of these cases are by young people aged between 10 and 19.

In the UK for people aged 15-24, suicide is the second biggest cause of death after road accidents.

Approximately one in three adolescents who die by suicide have been under the influence of alcohol at the time of death.

More women than men say they have considered suicide (females 21%, male 13%), though more men actually take their own lives.

Young women talk about how they are feeling far more often than young men. Women are more likely than men to have stronger social supports, and to seek psychiatric and other medical support.

Suicidal young men are 10 times more likely to use a drug to relieve stress. Suicidal young men were also more likely to feel that they had been pressurised into taking drugs. This group also spend far more on drugs than the non-suicidal group.

Suicidal young men are significantly more likely to have a father who is absent. They are also 10 times more likely to use a drug to relieve stress.

When there is a suicide in a community there can sometimes be the added problem of additional ‘imitative’ suicides. This is sometimes called ‘suicide clusters’ or the ‘contagion’ effect and it has been found to be a particular problem amongst young people.

It is thought that some of the ways in which this ‘contagion’ takes place include personal communication, media and/or the influence of the internet.

Ways to reduce the risk of contagion include:

• Ensuring that unnecessary attention is not given to the act.
• That information about the death is not presented in such a way that other people might identify with the person who died.
• Avoiding excessive detail about time and method of death.
• Disclosing the contents of any suicide note.
• Discouraging permanent memorials.
• Not ‘romanticising’ the suicide or making events surrounding it sound melodramatic.