EamonnMallie.com Northern Ireland's home for Independent thought

– July 25, 2012Posted in: News & Current Affairs, Opinion

Queen’s University Professor Mike Tomlinson confirms today that there is a direct connection between the Troubles and the disproportionately high levels of suicide in Northern Ireland.

Professor Tomlinson has been comparing here to other regions in these islands.

listen to ‘Mike Tomlinson on suicide in Northern Ireland’ on Audioboo

About Eamonn Mallie

I am a regular contributor to discussion programmes on TV and radio both at home and abroad. An experienced political editor and author specialising in Politics, Security and 20th Century Art.

Nick Garbutt

Eamonn – so pleased you conducted this interview – such an important contribution to the debate
http://www.lordalderdice.com/ John, Lord Alderdice

Eamonn, This is, as you note, an important set of findings, but not at all surprising. What is difficult for people to appreciate is that these phenomena may not simply need to be understood as a result of the problems experienced by individual people, but may also need to be understood as a group phenomenon. The experience by the community of such overt aggression and violence may mean that agressive impulses cannot easily be put ‘back in the box’ and may result in aggressive impulses being expressed in various ways, including against people’s own selves including through suicide and self-harm – the inverse relationship between self-harm and externalized agression was noted in publications in the early 1970′s by Dr Alec Lyons, Consultant Psychiatrist at Purdysburn Hospital. As you rightly observe this is another element of the legacy of the past which also needs to be part of our discussions and I would welcome a session with Professor Tomlinson and others at some point in the autumn. I have also sent Barney a DVD of a new film which explores some of this terrain and if he thinks it worthwhile, it might prove a useful addition to the process. You may also be aware that I chaired a Commission for the Royal College of Psychiatrists and we published a major report on Suicide and Self-harm in June 2010 – you can download the pdf free at -http://www.rcpsych.ac.uk/publications/collegereports/cr/cr158.aspx This is a complex area but it cannot be ignored of the legacy of the past is to be addressed, for it is one of the signs that it has not just ‘gone away’. Ever, John A

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Direct link between Northern Ireland ‘Troubles’ and suicide

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