| Suicide’s Deadly Toll |
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Shocked at the suicide levels in Ireland, returned Holy Ghost missionary Fr Tony Byrne set up a course called ‘Facing up to Suicide.’ He talks to Sarah McDonald about the tragedy of suicide and why it is everybody’s business.
Recent research published by the Southern Health Board contained some startling information and statistics. In Cork and Kerry, suicide rates have outstripped road deaths as the main killer of young men in the 15-35 age group.
Despite the initial stir of concern amongst the public, within a day or two people seemed happy enough to let the whole issue drop and, not surprisingly, it disappeared from the media. Suicide is still a taboo in Ireland. If a similar number of deaths were caused by meningitis, there would be a public outcry and, undoubtedly, a more serious attempt would be made to address the problem. We simply must engage with the issues around this harrowing form of self-destruction. As it stands, there is a dearth of services in Ireland available for those who are suicidal and for the families of victims. As the country with the highest rate of male suicide in the 15-24 age group in the world, how long are we going to continue relegating suicide to the margins? Ireland’s suicide rate in the 15-24 year old male category is put in context when contrasted with Sri Lanka, which holds the dubious position of being the country with the highest suicide rate across all categories, in the world. The ongoing separatist war in Sri Lanka, which has raged since 1972, has been responsible for the deaths of at least 60,000 people. Experts attribute the 23 daily suicides in a population of 19.4 million to the psychological damage inflicted by such a protracted and bloody war. Sri Lanka is patently a traumatised society. Why then is Ireland, a prosperous first world country which reputedly has never had it so good, witnessing suicide rates at such unprecedented levels? When Dr Tony Byrne CSSp returned to Ireland from Pakistan three years ago, he was stunned at the number of people who approached him in his ministry at the Blessed Sacrament Chapel in Dublin regarding suicide, either as bereaved family or friends of suicide victims, or who were battling with suicidal tendencies themselves. Then in 1998, his friend, Bishop Joseph of Pakistan, who was a prominent campaigner for religious freedom there, died by suicide. The harassment and victimisation of Christians by Muslim extremists undoubtedly was a key factor in the death of that caring pastor. It all spurred Dr Byrne to set up a course called ‘Facing up to suicide.’ Over the last two years, 1,500 people have attended it. With co-worker, Sr Kathleen Maguire PVBM, Dr Byrne is attempting to create a forum for the discussion of the many issues and unresolved grieving and emotions around suicide as well as provide practical and constructive assistance for those most affected by it. Everybody’s business He points out that one category deeply affected by suicide that we rarely consider are the professionals – the people who have to cut the rope or gather the body from the railway line. The ethos of the course is inspired by the old Irish proverb, "Ar scath a cheile a mhaireann na daoine", meaning "People live in the shadow of one another." If everybody takes a little action, maybe we will be able to solve this problem. "Suicide is very often connected with the biology of the brain. The brain is a physical organ like any other in the body, and it can get sick. There are certain diseases that are connected very closely with suicide such as manic depression, acute depression and schizophrenia." Advances in science and psychiatric research have broadened our understanding of the chemical imbalances in the brain which can push someone over the edge. "People I have helped who have attempted suicide tell me that the shutters of the mind close down and they find themselves in total darkness–they don’t believe that there is anybody there to help them." Inevitably, these people are engulfed by negative feelings and depression. "They struggle to live, and find that they cannot live, and yet they don’t want to die. Eventually, they run out of steam and hope, and they decide to take their life." De-roling of Irish males Diminished responsibility "In the past, unfortunately, the church was, I would say, less than Christian on this whole issue. It refused a religious burial. But now in more recent times, there has been a more compassionate approach to suicide. Archbishop Clifford has written a pastoral asking people to be more compassionate and concerned about the problem. We are now very concerned for those left behind. They suffer tremendously from blame, shame, loss and grief." Teen suicides He is scathing about the role of rap music and other music popular amongst teenagers that glorify suicide. "We have many early warning signals for suicide, for instance, the achievement syndrome, where if you don't get a first, you are a failure. Another is low self-esteem or people even joking about suicide. Physical symptoms sometimes point to a problem, if, for example, a person who used to be very careful about their appearance suddenly gets careless about hygiene. Sometimes too, there is a reduction of performance at work or study." Note: To find out more about the ‘Facing up to Suicide’ course, contact Rev Dr Tony Byrne at (01) 8380157. Teenage suicides happen for many reasons, including desperation in the face of exam pressures, bullying amongst peers or abuse. But at a recent conference in All Hallow's College, Dr Byrne warned about the increasing normalisation of suicide amongst teenagers. "Some of them look on suicide as the first option when they are faced with a stressful situation. We believe that suicide is essentially the manifestation of a psychological problem. It should never be normalised or sanitised. It is devastating for the relatives who are left behind and harrowing for the professionals who have to deal with it."You will not hear Dr Byrne say someone "committed suicide". It is, he says, an offensive term for people who have lost someone in this manner. "We know from psychiatry and psychology that 90 per cent of the people who die by suicide have diminished responsibility, so we cannot agree that it is an immoral act in all cases. For the sake of the sensitivities of those who have lost loved ones, we would prefer to use the term "lost by suicide" or "died by suicide."One of the reasons cited for the large number of male suicides is what Dr Byrne describes as the de-roling of Irish males. "Men had a very macho position in Irish society and families in the past, but this is changing now, and it is proving difficult for them to establish a new role." This is compounded by the difficulty they have in expressing their negative and emotional feelings. But Dr Byrne is also concerned about the significant increase in female suicide and their recourse to violent means such as shot guns. The emphasis we place in our society on a very narrow kind of success, and the evaluation of people according to what they earn and what they own, he says, is leading many people to doubt their innate worth.As Dr Byrne sees it "Suicide is everybody’s business." This is underlined by the statistic that a minimum of 50 people are affected by each suicide. Considering that in the years 1998-1999, 943 people died by suicide in Ireland, the obvious conclusion is that there are a lot of people carrying trauma. |