One in Five People Consider Suicide

ASIST facilitator Mark Logan (far left) and course
participants at NUI Galway.  Photo c/o NUIG Students' Union

AT ANY given time, one in five people will have suicidal thoughts. This fact was one of many eye-opening statistics shared with students who took part in a suicide first aid course in NUI Galway last week. 

Participants were also informed that people who have made a previous suicide attempt are 100 times more likely to die by suicide.

The aim of the Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training course is to equip partakers with the required skills to identify when somebody might be depressed or suicidal.

Students were taught how to connect with, understand and assist an individual who is experiencing suicidal thoughts or tendencies.

The initiative was originally due to take place in the college in October but was cancelled due to HSE cutbacks.

Following the controversial decision, the Students’ Union lobbied the Government and funding was restored.

The hands-on training programme took place on campus on February 14 and 15 and eighteen students attended.

“ASIST courses are hugely important globally – evaluations have shown that where ASIST is being rolled out extensively amongst communities, the incidence of suicide has dropped,” said Mark Logan, ASIST trainer and Regional Manager at RehabCare West.

“People come in feeling worried and anxious about the course and leave feeling confident about what they can do.

“The evaluations are universally excellent because people leave with a set of skills and confidence to know what to do if somebody is at risk of suicide,” Mr Logan added.

Joanna Brophy, Assistant Manager of NUIG’s Students' Union, stated: “It was great to work with Headsup and we look forward to running the course again, most likely in October 2013.”

The model for the ASIST course was originally developed by the Canadian mental health initiative LivingWorks in 1982. The programme is the most widely used suicide intervention training course in the world – over one million people have been trained globally.

The NUIG Students’ Union has been running the two-day ASIST course on campus once a semester since 2009.

In Ireland the course is facilitated by the HSE and Headsup – a Rehab Group initiative that promotes positive mental health among young people.

Over the past decade, some 25,000 people have participated in the ASIST programme nationally.

In 2011, the last year for which records are available, there were 525 reported cases of death by suicide in this country.

State funding of €35 million has been earmarked for spending in the mental health sector in 2013; the same amount as last year.

In January Kathleen Lynch, Minister of State with responsibility for Mental Health, spoke of the Government’s future plans in this area. As part of their bullying action scheme, a programme that promotes positive mental health in secondary schools has been launched.

At a practice-based level, two specialist nurses are to be stationed in each suicide unit in Ireland. A joint initiative with the Irish College of GPs that will increase doctor training on the subject has also been introduced.

For further information on mental health support, text HEADSUP to 50424 or visit www.headsup.ie. Details on ASIST and other mental health courses are available on the National Office for Suicide Prevention website – www.nosp.ie. For additional information on RehabCare West, telephone 091 755 686 or email mark.logan@rehab.ie.

This article was published on Headsup.ie and also featured in today's edition of The Connacht Tribune.

We Need To Talk About Death

Image c/o The Irish Hospice Foundation

A SINGLE DEATH is said to directly affect an average of ten people. With this in mind, there are some 290,000 people grieving in Ireland each year. Death is the only inevitable aspect of any life and yet we feel hugely uncomfortable discussing it. Why can't we talk about this particular elephant in the room until we need a coffin for it? Quite simply, because it hurts. When it's someone close to you, it hurts like hell.

'Death anxiety' is a huge, often hidden, problem. Susan Delaney, Bereavement Services Manager at the Irish Hospice Foundation (IHF), maintains that "no one wants to think about [death] before they have to". Even after-the-fact, letting your mind become acquainted with thoughts of quietus can be extremely difficult. Ms Delaney acknowledges that people are often surprised by the impact of grief and find themselves poorly equipped to deal with it. She says: "It happens to us all but it can still be an ambush."

Essentially my family was given just shy of three days to come to terms with the fact that our husband and father would die. Up until that point, hope was ever-present. It could have been due to the fact we simply refused to let ourselves accept the inevitable, heartbreaking truth. It might have been that the medical team treating him tried to sugar-coat the real prognosis. In truth, it was probably a combination of both. Envisaging a world without dad was unfathomable. The sun was removed from our universe and we were expected to somehow survive. He was the strongest, most significant male presence in each of our lives and his passing has left a mammoth void.

He did not smoke, he barely drank, he was active; he was diagnosed with a type and level of cancer that is extremely aggressive and most common amongst overweight people who smoke and drink regularly. Various types of treatment ensued - some worked briefly, others not at all. Seven months later he was gone. None of this made sense - it all seemed surreal and, for the most part, we let it. The sheer strangeness of it all dulled the pain and made it easier to pretend none of the nightmare was actually happening. It sometimes still does. Watching someone you love die is, obviously, beyond horrendous. By the end, you will them to go. You want them to be free and feel no pain. Admitting defeat is the only option left on the table.

Our three day countdown was an odd period. It was full of emotion - we cried, we laughed, we talked. As dad himself pointed out, if he had been hit by a car and died instantly we would have never had the chance to say how much we loved each other. Nothing was left unsaid and he died happy. Amongst the sheer agony of loss, that is something that provided a gargantuan sense of relief and gratitude for us all.

The five 'stages' of grief are supposedly denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance. I've definitely experienced all of these during the eight months since my father's passing. For me, they were not mutually exclusive entities. Grief is like a river: it ebbs and flows. One moment everything is calm and manageable, the next you're hurtling headfirst down a waterfall. To be perfectly honest, I'm still in a period of denial. I get by because I refuse to dwell on the truth. In those moments when it hits me that he's gone, I find it hard to breath.

I'm aware that my experience is not unique. Bereavement does not come with a guide book and approximately ten per cent of those dealing with it require extra support in the form of therapy. Although the IHF does not provide counselling itself, it acts act an information hub for the many people who contact the organisation when attempting to come to terms with their grief. The charity runs a number of bereavement-related courses. 

Ms Delaney says people are "very hungry for training" - a fact supported by the waiting lists that exist for certain training initiatives. The IHF has twice held a Bereavement Care Liaison Project in conjunction with the HSE in the midlands. Although there are currently no plans for similar projects elsewhere, the body is striving to help provide equal access to bereavement help nationwide. Financial donations by the public are imperative to the charity as they receive no official funding. Ms Delaney notes that there are many misconceptions regarding bereavement but believes that each person will respond and recover in a way that is natural to them. "People are resilient," she says.

While it can be difficult for adults to express grief, it can be even more of a challenge for children and young people to articulate the pain inflicted by the loss of a loved one. Barnardos' Bereavement Counselling for Children (BBCC) Helpline receives approximately four hundred calls annually from parents, carers, social workers, GPs and Gardaí who are looking to support children following a death in the family. In 2011, the charity provided bereavement counselling for 396 children and families. While the Helpline is a national service, the organisation's counselling department operates from Dublin and Cork. These venues were selected based on population size and need. Unfortunately, resources do not permit the expansion of the service at this point.

The Family Support Agency (FSA) provides about fifty per cent of their finance and the remainder comes from voluntary funds such as public donations. The FSA grant received by Barnardos will be almost halved from 2011 - 2014. Valerie Kelly, BBCC's Head of Service, admits that it will not be possible to provide the present level of service from 2013 onwards. This year, the Commission for the Support of Victims of Crime donated €23,500 to help the association's work with families of homicide victims, while Electric Ireland pledged €15,000 towards aiding their work with those bereaved through suicide. The BBCC is the only dedicated children’s bereavement counselling service in the Republic.

Understanding grief will only ever become more achievable through open and frank discussions on the subject. Even then, it will more than likely remain an enigma. Nevertheless, by taking the time to talk about life ending we might well come that little bit closer to understanding life itself and the grief we will all have to face at some point. Those grieving, and the organisations that aid them, need support. 

For further information on the IHF's bereavement services, visit their website or phone (01) 6793188. The BBCC can be contacted via (01) 473 2110 or online.

Funding for NUI Galway Suicide Intervention Course Restored

Image c/o NUI Galway Students' Union

FUNDING for a suicide intervention training course that was discontinued in NUI Galway in October has been restored by the HSE.

The Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training programme was scrapped due to government cutbacks, but the decision was overturned following lobbying by the Students' Union.

Patrick Clancy, the university's Convenor for Arts, Social Sciences and Celtic Studies, has welcomed the decision to recommence the ASIST course but maintains more needs to be done. The initiative will now take place in February next year.

"I am very pleased to hear that the funding is available in 2013. In this academic year, over 50 people were due to be trained as part of this programme. However, due to the cutbacks, under 25 will now be trained . . . So, while I welcome the funding being continued in 2013, I respectfully demand that there is a second course for NUIG students put on in the latter half of the semester," Mr Clancy said.

"This course is provided at minimal cost to the HSE and it leads directly into saving the most vulnerable age group from suicide. Some 84 per cent of fatalities from suicide are male. The biggest sector susceptible to suicide is the 'male between 18 & 25' group," he added.

Mr Clancy has been lobbying all TDs in Galway, Mayo and Clare about the issue for the past three months. He also contacted An Taoiseach Enda Kenny who in turn brought the matter to the attention of Anne O'Neill, Business Area Manager with HSE West.

The ASIST course has been held on campus once a semester since 2009. Its aim is to equip participants, both students and staff, with the skills needed to provide suicide first aid for a person at risk. Over the past decade, 25,000 people have been trained in the programme nationally.

Minister for Health James Reilly confirmed the HSE's decision to re-allocate funding for the initiative last week. “The HSE acknowledges the great support they have received from the NUIG Students Union over the last number of years and plans to continue to work in partnership with the SU and deliver an ASIST workshop in NUIG in February 2013,” stated Minister Reilly.

The head of NUI Galway's Student Counselling Service has also welcomed the news, describing the initial decision to cut the programme as "short-sighted". "When authorities such as the HSE are pressed financially, training can seem like an easy cut to make," Bea Gavin commented. "The benefits from this course far outweigh the cost," she added.

Ms Gavin said she hoped the decision might lead to funding being granted for similar college-based initiatives aimed at mental health professionals. A STORM self-harm risk assessment and management training course for therapists took place in NUI Galway in January of this year but there are currently no plans for it to be re-run.

Information on ASIST is available on the National Office for Suicide Prevention website: www.nosp.ie. For further details on NUI Galway's free and confidential counselling services, contact 087-6644299 or counselling@nuigalway.ie. 


This article was also published in The Connacht Tribune and Student Independent News, NUI Galway's student newspaper.

HSE cutbacks force cancellation of NUIG suicide intervention programme

Image c/o NUI Galway Students' Union

THE CASH-STRAPPED HSE has abandoned a suicide intervention programme aimed at students in NUI Galway, after the Government opted to use €35 million allocated for mental health services to offset the massive health budget deficit.

The Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training course was due to take place in the college earlier this month but the initiative was scrapped as a direct result of HSE cuts brought on by the current economic situation.
 
The Students’ Union has been running the two-day ASIST course on campus once a semester since 2009, with 60 people attending annually. The course was provided free of charge by the HSE while the SU facilitated the enrolling of students.
 
Over the past decade, 25,000 people have been trained in the ASIST programme nationally, with 3,000 people taking part in the initiative so far this year.
 
Joanna Brophy, the course's co-ordinator at the university, has criticised its cancellation, saying it means dozens of students will now not be trained in suicide prevention skills. The HSE plans to deliver another ASIST workshop in NUI Galway in February 2013. "In the meantime we have worked with AWARE to bring the six-week free Living Life to the Full course to campus this semester," Ms Brophy stated.
 
A spokesperson for the HSE acknowledged "the great support" the organisation has received from the college's Students' Union in the past and blamed the ASIST cancellation on financial constraints imposed by the Government and the Troika. The body is seeking to save €26million in 2012 by making cutbacks in the areas of education, training and travel.
 
NUI Galway's Head of Counselling Bea Gavin has described the abandonment of the ASIST programme this semester as "very regrettable". "One of the great benefits of the training is that it encourages those who are concerned about vulnerable young people to talk to them openly about their feelings and to encourage them to seek help," she asserted.
 
In light of this development, the college’s Student Welfare Officer has called for increased mental health services at both local and national level.
 
Dami Adebari, who is also Vice President of the Students' Union, praised the counselling facilities available at the university and the success of their recent Mental Health Week but stated that more needs to be done to help those in trouble.
 
"When things get hard, we all have to take a hit," Mr Adebari stated. However, he feels the same rule should not apply in relation to psychiatric services - initiatives that have a proven track record of success. "These are people's lives at stake here," he said.
 
Ironically the SU has just announced that it has chosen a suicide prevention charity as one of the beneficiaries of its fundraising efforts during this academic year. Pieta House is a non-profit organisation that provides specialised treatment programmes for people who are dealing with suicidal thoughts or self-harming issues.
 
The charity plans to open its first western facility in Tuam next year. Some eighty per cent of their funding comes from public donations and the new centre is the result of an 18 month fundraising campaign led by local businessman John Concannon. The amenity will be located on Bishop Street and will serve Galway, Mayo and Roscommon.
 
"Suicide can happen to anyone and I want to ask everyone in NUI Galway to look out for their friends and classmates and get in contact with us if they think anyone may be in distress," Joan Freeman, Pieta House founder, stated.
 
For further details on NUI Galway's free and confidential counselling services, contact 087-6644299 or counselling@nuigalway.ie. Information about Pieta House is available here.


This article was also published in The Connacht Tribune and Student Independent News, NUI Galway's student newspaper.