President Mary McAleese has issued a warning about the link between suicide and illegal drugs.Mrs McAleese called for an awareness campaign directed at young people to counter what she described as the erroneous view that marijuana was a benign substance.
Separately, the President also observed that there was still an undercurrent of both bias and hostility which young gay people must find deeply hurtful and inhibiting.
The President was speaking at an international conference on suicide in Killarney, Co Kerry.
Children as young as six attempted suicide
A study has found that children as young as six have tried to take their own lives.
The study covers 439 young people who presented themselves as a result of deliberate self-harm at Crumlin Children's Hospital and Temple Street Hospital in Dublin between 1994 and 2006.
Around 10% of them were under 11, the oldest was 17 the youngest was just six years old.
The majority had overdosed on drugs, usually paracetamol. More than half said they wanted to die and almost a third had made a previous suicide bid.
The study's authors are describing as 'unexpected' the fact that a child as young as six had self harmed, as suicidal behaviour normally does not appear until the teenage years.
Call for blocking of self-harm websites
Internet providers have been urged to block sites that support and encourage suicide.
Researchers at the University of Ulster made the call as part of a study into suicide trends in Derry over a five-year period.
They say a lack of professional support services, along with the promotion and use of self-harm websites were likely contributors to an increased rate of suicide.
The study looked at 60 deaths in the Derry area between January 2000 and December 2005.
Over 83% of those who died were male - with the highest proportion aged between 21 and 30 years.
A peak in the number of suicides was recorded in the month of July.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Disclaimer
No responsibility or liability shall attach itself to either myself or to the blogspot ‘Clerical Whispers’ for any or all of the articles placed here.
The placing of an article hereupon does not necessarily imply that I agree or accept the contents of the article as being necessarily factual in theology, dogma or otherwise.
Sotto Voce