A REPORT LAUNCHED today by Minister Kathleen Lynch details the use of geo-spatial techniques in the verification of suicide clusters. The cynical will ask “so what?” and wonder how this is helpful.
The task of “translating research into practice” is challenging because researchers and policy makers speak a different language and view the world through a different lens. In the area of suicide research and prevention this challenge has some unique characteristics. Suicide is a complex behaviour. It almost always involves incredibly rich life stories and experiences that demand a range of research perspectives to help deepen our understanding.
At the same time, the coordination of prevention efforts involves, literally, individuals and agencies from all walks of life. If mental health professionals play a role in suicide prevention so too do teachers, neighbours, friends and family. Despite this challenge, the awful tragedy of suicide unites us in the common aim to do something to make prevention work.
The second report of the Suicide Support and Information System unpacks a vast amount of detail in relation to over 300 consecutive cases of suicide in Cork between 2008 and 2012. The study conducted by the National Suicide Research Foundation. and commissioned by the HSE National Office for Suicide Prevention, is both robust and practical and can go a long way to refining our future efforts in this area.
Without ever opening the study report, the project name tells us a lot in terms of the motivation behind this research. The proactive offering of bereavement support to people who have lost loved ones to suicide is a key part of this work. The research behind this report was not conducted in an ivory tower but face-to-face with mothers, fathers, brothers and sisters of people who had taken their own life. So, what does the report tell us?
A key objective of the report was to move beyond one dimensional listing of known individual risk factors and seek to determine “different subgroups among people who have died by suicide”. One such subgroup identified is that of young men under 40 years of age who accounted for nearly 43 per cent of those who died. This cold statistic resonates with our collective experience across Ireland where stories of brothers and friends who have taken their own life are all too familiar.
Importantly, there is a focus on social factors and life experience among those who had died. For the group of young men who had died, many expected risk factors were identified. Three out of four were single, nearly 40 per cent were unemployed while a history of drug and/or alcohol abuse was common (again, just under 40 per cent). A further important characteristic of this group was that 29 per cent had a family member or friend who had died by suicide.
Knowing someone close who had died by suicide was three times more common among the young men than the older men aged over 40.
It is so important that we challenge ourselves to think about how these findings can be translated into practice in order to make a real difference. Many of the risk factors identified in relation to young men are difficult to respond to and might be seen as symptomatic of disaffection and alienation in life, such as alcohol abuse for example. Being single is a risk factor but knowledge of this can only be useful in a very general way as part of an overall strategy for prevention at both individual and societal levels.
A more specific and telling finding is that so many of the young men who had taken their own lives were known to have lost a friend or family member to suicide. There is no doubt that the others will have heard the increasing national chatter on suicide which has made its way from radio chat shows to cafes and pubs in every Irish town and village. Suicide is highly visible.
A challenge highlighted by the SSIS report is the task of providing meaningful support to young men in Ireland who are deeply impacted by the experience of suicide bereavement.
About ten years ago I met with a community group in a Limerick suburb which had experienced a suicide cluster among young men from the area. One of the community workers at the meeting told me that, in response to an offer of counselling, the bereaved young men from the area asked instead for help in organising a soccer team to compete in the local junior league.
Town hall meetings, coffee mornings, group support in church halls and psychotherapy all have their place – but support must be tailored to those who most need it.
In the case of young men in Ireland, suicide bereavement support may simply mean an acknowledgement of the experience so that we foster a culture where this trauma can be dealt with openly, encouraging informal social support and professional help when it’s needed. The SSIS report is a welcome, in-depth insight into the experience of suicide in an Irish city and county.
Its findings tell us much about the societal experience of suicide and the characteristics common to many of those who have, sadly, died by suicide. Let’s take the time to listen to what it’s telling us and respond in creative, imaginative and practical ways.
Derek Chambers is the Director of Programmes and Policy for ReachOut.com an initiative of Inspire – follow on Twitter at @ReachOutIRL.
If you have been affected by any of the issues raised in this article, as well as reachout.com you can also contact the following organisations:
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