This article is from page 2 of the 2006-07-18 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 2 JPG
A CLARE psychiatrist has expressed concern over the county’s suicide rate which is bucking the national trend and rising.
Last year, 431 Irish people took their own lives, compared to the 457 suicides in 2004 – a drop of 26.
However, in Clare, the number of suicides showed a slight increase going up from 14 in 2004 to 15 last year.
Dr Moosajee Bhamjee told The Clare People , “It is a concern that with all the suicide awareness that there has not been any drop-off. Young people find it very difficult to cope with the end of relationships and find it hard when they are rejected. This leads to a lot of stress that they do not want to deal with.
“Suicides have traditionally been under-reported and I would be very concerned at the number of single men under the age of 30 that have taken their lives. Anyone that is feeling suicidal should contact the Samaritans who are available 24 hours a day.”
Over the past four years, 60 people have taken their own lives in Clare with the gender breakdown showing that 44 males took their lives, while 16 females committed suicide.
The figures for 2005 show that men under the age of 30 are most at risk, with five men in that age group taking their lives.
The next largest grouping are those aged over 50, with three taking their lives.
Last year was the first time in a number of years when no suicide took place at the Cliffs of Moher – in 2004, four people took their lives at the Cliffs.
There were no suicides recorded in Clare from July to the start of December and the figures show that the largest proportion of suicides took place in rural parts of west Clare.
West Clare councillor, Tom Prendeville (FF), said yesterday, “We have to accept that there is a problem of suicide in west Clare and I would be extremely worried if there was any evidence of copy-cat suicides, because, if that is the case, we are failing in our role as educationalists.”
“Young people must understand that, no matter what the problem is, there is always a way out.
“I believe that a very strong factor in the high rate of suicide is the high expectations put on young people and the roller-coaster lives they lead.”