Northern Ireland s interim Mental Health Champion has appealed to people to those who might be struggling to get help as she warned of the impact of the pandemic.
Northern Ireland’s interim Mental Health Champion has urged people to reach out to those who might be struggling as she warned of the impact of the pandemic.
Professor Siobhan O’Neill made the call as she joined Health Minister Robin Swann and chief medical officer Dr Michael McBride at their weekly Stormont briefing.
Prof O’Neill said that while there was no indication suicide rates had increased during the Covid-19 crisis, there was data that indicated more people in Northern Ireland were having suicidal thoughts.
She predicted that numbers seeking mental health services were set to increase.
“There’s some research data coming through that’s telling us that more people feel suicidal, that many people feel that life is not worth living and people are losing hope, and that’s very, very worrying to hear that,” she said.
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Northern Ireland areas with least access to GP-led counselling services revealed in new interactive map
Around half of GPs in some areas do not offer the service
GP-led counselling services by constituency (Image: PPR)
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The coronavirus pandemic has led to an increase in people feeling suicidal in Northern Ireland, Stormont s mental health champion has warned.
Professor Siobhan O Neill said that losing loved ones to the virus and the impact of restrictions was causing people to feel hopeless.
She was speaking after it emerged over 25,000 people called Northern Ireland s suicide prevention service Lifeline during 2019/20.
A total of 25,638 people called the crisis line in the 12 months to last April, an increase of over 2,000 from 23,555 in 2018/19.
In 2019/20, 5,255 calls were also made to Lifeline by third parties on behalf of an individual, down from 5,732 the previous year.
They are generally made by someone concerned about a person s mental health, such as a GP or the emergency services.