Alcohol is involved in almost a third of deliberate self-harm acts in Cork, prompting experts in suicidal behaviour to urge people to be cautious when using alcohol this Christmas. Findings by the National Suicide Research Foundation (NSRF) released to The Cork News show that 30% of self-harm patients in Cork City and 29.5% of those in the county had used alcohol.
NSRF Director of Research, Dr Ella Arensman confirmed indications that alcohol-fuelled public holidays are a catalyst for those seeking to self-harm. She stated that on seasonal patterns, alcohol-related deliberate self-harm increased in December, particularly among men. For women, cases of self harm where alcohol was involved were highest in January.
In comparison, non alcohol-related deliberate self-harm dropped for both sexes during the final month of the year. “In the past we have repeatedly seen peaks of deliberate self-harm around public holidays,” said Dr Arensman. These include New Year’s Day, the day after St Patrick’s Day and the May and June Bank Holidays. Research also indicates that alcohol is likely to be one of the factors underlying the pattern of presentations with deliberate self-harm by time of day and day of week. It has been shown that presentations peak in the hours around midnight and almost one-third of all presentations occur on Sundays and Mondays.
Source: thecorknews.ie, 14/12/12
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