The Government must recognise that the level of suicide and suicidal behaviour is a serious social health issue that must be comprehensively dealt with and the necessary services put in place, according to Fine Gael Senator John Paul Phelan.
Research going back to the 1890s demonstrates that suicide and mental illness increases at times of recession, and that suicide is linked to financial disasters, the 32-year-old said.
“The potential psychological impact of economic recession on public health is severe. People who are unemployed are two to three times more likely to die by suicide than those in employment. This high rate is partly because people with psychiatric illnesses are at a greater risk of losing their jobs.
“There is an association between unemployment and suicide. However, even among people with no record of serious mental illness, unemployment is associated with a 70 per cent greater suicide risk. Prospective individual level studies show that unemployment has a causal influence on depression and suicidal thinking.
“Job insecurity is associated with a 33 per cent greater risk of common mental disorders, mainly anxiety and depression. People with mental disorder are more likely to be in debt than those who have no mental disorder. A United States research document indicates that a loss of income rather than low income was associated with suicidal ideation. In Hong Kong, 24 per cent of all suicides in 2004 concerned people in debt.
“Alcohol consumption rises during recessions, and this also correlates with suicide. The figure for the 1990s in this country was a 44 per cent increase in alcohol consumption and a 41 per cent increase in suicide.
“I put it to the Minister that in times of recession there is a need for the State to respond to this problem. A little over €3 million has been given to the National Office for Suicide Prevention. We cannot put a price on our citizens’ lives,” Senator Phelan said.
