Reported suicide only 'tip of the iceberg'

Seamus Enright

The number of suicide in Cavan is at its highest in 10-years, and running at a rate of double the national average, according to new figures published by the HSE National Office for Suicide Prevention (NOSP).
It has led to the head of a local suicide and bereavement charity calling for a stricter application of 'suicide' as an inquest verdict where applicable on the belief that the rates of death by suicide “could be even higher” than recorded.
Co-ordinator with SOSAD Cavan, Christine Wynne, thinks the “stigma” attached to death by suicide in society in Ireland is still too much for some already deeply bereaved families to bear.
“Most definitely,” she said, adding: “We'd be aware of that. And that's probably never going to change. There's always going to be an element of that I feel, where families can't face up to that.”
She made the comments ahead of World Suicide Prevention Day 2019, which took place on Tuesday, September 10 last.
The day saw the HSE launch a Cavan-Monaghan Suicide Bereavement Liaison Service at the Tanagh Outdoor Centre in Cootehill, where speakers included representatives from Pieta House, HSE Cavan Monaghan Mental Health Service (CAMHS) and Suicide Bereavement Liaison Officer.
The NOSP figures published last week show that Cavan and Monaghan had the highest rates of death by suicide per county in Ireland over the past two years.
Monaghan had the highest rate for the 2016 to 2018 period, at 17.1 per 100,000, followed by County Cavan with a rate of 16.7 per 100,000 of population.
The national average was 8.2 per 100,000 people. Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown had the lowest suicide rate at 2.4. Other areas with high suicide rates included Cork city, with 15.3, Co Waterford, with 13.9, and Co Clare, 13.6.
The figure for Cavan is now, according to the figures, at a joint 10-year high, where the last such peak recorded was in 2006-08.
That rate dropped to its lowest point between 2009-11 (10.2) and 2010-12 (10.0), but increased to 14.0 in 2011-13, remained at 15.8 between 2012-15, only to drop to 15.3 in 2014-16 and 13.8 in 2015-17, before rising again in the past two years.
Monaghan meanwhile has experienced its highest rate of death by suicide in the county between 2016-2018, where the numbers recorded have steadily crept upwards over the past 10 years.
Provisional figures show there were 352 suicides last year of which 282 male and 70 were female - or 7.2 per 100,000 of population.
This compares to 392 - 312 male and 80 female - or 8.2 of 100,000 population in 2017 dying by suicide.

Suicide is a legal verdict, determined by Coroners.
“Its only the tip of the ice berg I feel. The definition of suicide is the intentional taking of one's life. So unless that is blatantly obvious to a coroner at an inquest, we've found they're simply not being recorded as suicide,” explained Ms Wynne. “But the recorded statistics, which is really all we can go on, I don't think tell the full story. They are not the true number.”
Already in 2019, SOSAD have assisted families throughout the county who have suffered the loss of a loved one through suicide. Among them, a number of young people, and Ms Wynne says that the local charity, which relies on generosity from the community to continue to offer its services, works on a daily basis to offer not only bereavement support for suicide prevention and awareness.
“We need to educate people. That is the critical point from all of this, and our young people especially. We will all face these different life events, and the only think that makes us different is how we handle them. We're all faced with challenges, but we need to place huge awareness on the services that are around, not just SOSAD. People need to understand that whatever the issue is it will pass with time, but people want the death of a problem, and unfortunately someone not in a place to wait for those corrections, or have skills to cope, associates that with biological death also which is the saddest past.”
If affected by any of the issues raised, contact: Samaritans, freephone: 116123 or text 087-260 9090; Pieta House, freephone: 1800-247247 or text HELP to 51444; Aware, freephone: 1800-804848.