Dan Neville (Limerick West, Fine Gael)

I welcome the opportunity to address this debate and congratulate the Technical Group on tabling it. Today is World Mental Health Day. I asked for a debate today on this serious national issue. However, the Ceann Comhairle decided, as is his right, that this is not a serious national issue. I believe that the lack of resources being invested in our psychiatric services is a serious national issue. The Government has failed to respect the human rights of people with mental illness. The psychiatric service is out of step with international best practices and, as such, fails to comply with international human rights law.

More than 50% of young people who die by suicide have a history of drug or alcohol abuse. Many young people who consider suicide suffer from depression. Suicide is not random. Each one occurs for a particular reason, such as depression or drug or alcohol abuse. Studying such high risk groups is an important way to prevent suicide. Studies have shown that young adults who drink heavily or have a high level of drug abuse have an increased risk of suicide in middle adulthood. People who are dependent on alcohol or drugs have an increased risk of death from accidents, disease and suicide. Suicide is among the most significant causes of death in both male and females who are substance abusers. The strongest risk factors for attempted suicide in adults are depression, alcohol abuse, cocaine use and separation or marriage break-up. The strongest risk or factors for attempted suicide in young people are depression, drug abuse, alcohol abuse and drug use disorder, including binge drinking, substance abuse and aggressive and disruptive behaviour.

The frequency of suicide attempts among substance abusers is five times greater than the frequency among people who do not abuse substances. This is particularly true for alcoholics. Major depression is 50% more common among alcoholics than non-alcoholics. Most people drink alcohol or use drugs such as cocaine to reduce feelings of depression. However, drinking and drug use can actually lead to greater anxiety, depression and thoughts of suicide. Many people recovering from heroin addiction make suicide attempts. Drug abusers often have feelings of being unwell or unhappy. Although these feelings may not last long enough to qualify as a major depression, they may nonetheless increase drug abusers' risks of attempting suicide. In addition, there is a relationship between injecting drugs and suicide attempts.

Addicts who inject drugs are aware that they are engaging in high risk behaviour and may be less concerned about their overall well-being. Alcoholics and drugs addicts often lose their jobs and have troubled relationships. These problems increase the risks of making a suicide attempt. The major risk factors for completed suicide among alcoholics and drug abusers are current drinking and drug use, major depression, suicidal thoughts, loss of support from families, living alone and unemployment.

Unlike many of the other issues surrounding this problem, less is known about the way these risk factors affect other substance abusers. Psychiatric conditions such as depression and schizophrenia play an important role in suicide of alcoholics and drug abusers. The vast majority of suicide victims have symptoms of depression at the time of their death. I will conclude but I had much more to contribute to the debate on this issue.

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