Taoiseach tells of two he knew among 4,929 suicides in ‘lost decade’

As recession ends, there are also signs of recovery in Ireland’s toll of suicide and self-harm, writes Paul Corcoran

TAOISEACH Leo Varadkar has told how he lost two people he knew to suicide during Ireland’s Great Recession as latest figures show the number of suicides reached almost 5,000 in most of the period referred to as the lost decade.

Mr Varadkar said both of the people he personally knew were “riding high” during the boom years but did not know how to cope when the global recession hit.

His comments come as records show 4,929 people lost their lives during most of the 10 years of unemployment, house repossessions, and renewed forced emigration.

“I remember two people I knew in my community who took their own lives during that time,” Mr Varadkar told the Sunday Independent.

“They believed they had the world at their feet and didn’t know how to cope — or who to reach out to — when their finances collapsed.

“I felt so bad for the families and the kids they left behind. It’s one of the reasons I ensured the budget was doubled for the National Office Of Suicide Prevention when I was in the Department of Health. Not sure if made a difference, but at least it was something,’’ he said.

The suicide rate increased from 458 a year at the start of the recession in 2007 to 541 before Ireland technically exited recession in 2012, as more and more people battled various forms of economic hardship.

Similarly, the number self-harming also increased during those years. In 2007, the rate of self-harm incidents was 188 per 100,000. Within five years, this increased to 211, according to data from the National Suicide Research Foundation.

According to a UCC study, suicide rates for Irish males jumped by 57pc from 2008 to 2012. The research, headed by Dr Paul Corcoran, found that in the five years of the recession there were 561 more deaths by suicide than there would have been if pre-recession trends had continued. Men accounted for 476 of those deaths and 85 were women.

Mr Varadkar said: “The rate of suicide at that time was the human cost of economic mismanagement at its most stark and painful. It reminds us why we must never go back.”

THIS week’s Irish Economy Health Check by Goodbody Stockbrokers brought the news that Ireland’s lost decade is at an end. Our economy has recovered from the 2008 crash, this year’s domestic spending will equal the peak level seen in 2007 and full employment will be reached by the end of 2018.

Goodbody did remind us of our high national debt so even if the lost decade is over for the economy there are decades of repayments ahead for the population. The exponential growth in applications for debt solutions, reported last week by the Insolvency Service of Ireland, reminded us of the significant personal debt that may also take decades to resolve. Thursday’s report by the Central Statistics Office that homelessness more than doubled between 2011 and 2016 reminded us of another persisting cost borne by some in our society as a result of the lost decade.

In Ireland, we do not have a national mental health check but if we did, would it also conclude that we have emerged from a lost decade? As with a country’s economy, there are various indicators and metrics for the mental health of a nation, not least among them is suicidal behaviour.

Colleagues and I showed that the first five years of Ireland’s economic recession and austerity in 2008-2012 had a significant negative impact on national rates of suicidal behaviour. There was an increase in suicide, primarily among men, and an increase in hospital-treated self-harm in men and women. The increases equated to approximately 550 more suicide deaths and 9,000 more self-harm presentations to hospital. Essentially, Ireland experienced the equivalent of six years of suicide and selfharm in five years.

These stark findings were consistent with those of contemporary international studies and they reaffirmed that, in terms of suicide, Ireland was one of the countries most adversely affected by the economic recession and subsequent austerity.

The impact of the financial crisis on national economies was not the same across Europe and there was also variation in the extent to which governments adopted austerity measures. Some international studies have shown that the greater the austerity, the greater the impact on mental health and suicide.

Austerity was central to the response of Irish governments in the past decade. However, we can never know whether this exacerbated the situation relating to Irish rates of suicidal behaviour or whether an alternative approach would have led to a better outcome.

On a positive note, there has been increased investment in suicide prevention. This is especially exemplified by the development and current implementation of Connecting for Life, Ireland’s National Strategy to Reduce Suicide 20152020, and the Health Service Executive’s National Clinical Care Programme for the Assessment and Management of Patients Presenting to Emergency Departments following Self-Harm. Initiatives like these put Ireland at the forefront of suicide prevention internationally.

So how is the nation’s mental health now? Well, the signs are good based on our rate of suicide and hospital-treated self-harm. The latter has shown a modest fall since the peak observed in 2011 while the suicide rate is at pre-recession levels following successive annual decreases in recent years.

Looking ahead at the economy, Goodbody warned ‘‘capacity constraints are becoming visible… meaning the Government will have to prioritise capital spending in the coming years’’.

Ireland’s mental health service was under-resourced and operated beyond capacity in the years of economic boom. In 2006, Vision for Change set out how the service should be developed including the need for capital spending of €800m on new units. Then and now, mental health spending in Ireland was half that of the UK. Then and now, there was a shortfall of almost 2,000 staff in our mental health service.

Our economy is emerging from a lost decade. Our mental health service has also experienced a lost decade but with adequate priority and investment it too can emerge so that those in need of the service can get the support and care they deserve.