Dangers of mixed message on suicide

Dear Editor, David Quinn (IC 23/10/14 ‘Gay Byrne gets it badly wrong on the subject of euthanasia’) argues that there is a danger of sending a mixed message to society about suicide. As a mental health professional I could not agree more.

While we do not have a high rate of suicide in general, we do for young men. Human rights advocates, often with limited experience of working with depressed, psychotic or vulnerable people, can make generalisations about the rights of individuals to make decisions without any sense of the importance of assessing the current situation of each person and offering support to address concerns and to challenge negative thinking.

As a health worker I will do all I can to prevent a person taking their own life and as a Catholic I will argue that it is not just yours to take.

Yours etc.,

Frank Browne,

Templeogue,

Dublin 16.