Suicide in Ireland kills more men under the age of 25 than any other cause of death, new CSO data has shown.
These figures are according to a new report from the state statistics body, which showed a total of 524 people died by suicide in 2019. While this figure is 16 less than 2018, it still represents a 5.4% rise in the suicide rate over 5 years.
“Among young males, aged under 25 years, suicide was the number one cause of death in 2019. For females in the same age bracket, suicide was the third highest cause of death for the same period,” the report reads.
For young men under 25, suicide accounted for 22% of total deaths in that age bracket.
Moreover, Ger Doolan, who is the Chief Statistician for the CSO’s vital statistics, said that the pandemic and its impact could see a spike in suicides for the pandemic years 2020 and 2021. However, due to the lockdown, there may be a backlog which takes these figures longer to be released.
“It wouldn’t be too far of a jump to say that if all deaths [including those possibly attributable to suicide] referred to coroner, and for a large portion of 2020 those services were not available, there is going to be a backlog,” he said.
“There is going to have to be a catch-up or more of an impact, potentially.”
Ireland’s youth have long struggled with mental health issues, with Ireland’s teen suicide rate being the fourth highest in the EU as far back as 2017.
Moreover, suicidality appears to disproportionately affect men. According to mental health charity Samaritans, in the Republic of Ireland in 2019, 78% of suicide victims were male, while 22% were female.