Suicide rates among men in Ireland’s Traveller community are on the rise, That was the stark warning from Petra Daly, head of the National Traveller Suicide Awareness Project.
Daly said that the humiliation of admitting a mental health problem had led Traveller males of all ages – one as young as nine years old – to take their own lives.
Organisers like Daly suggest that some may feel as if ending their life is the only option left when the stress of life has reached a climax.
“Especially within Ireland, suicide has become an option [for Travellers] given the recession and the grief of past deaths of loved ones,” she said.
Since 2004, anecdotal evidence has been observed to suggest the need to provide culturally appropriate mental wellness services for the Traveller community. The perceived gap between services provided and minority communities influences whether or not prevention and intervention programs are effective.
“You need a service to respond to the needs of all people,” said Daly, “but how those services are perceived by different communities may be different. They might feel like they can’t access [public services] the same way as others.”
In 2007 a coalition of 11 organisations launched the National Traveller Suicide Project on a three-year contract with funding from the National Office for Suicide Prevention (NOSP). After its initial success, the project has continued to expand with continued annual funding from the NOSP.
The project aims to implement more widespread awareness of mental health issues and increase the accessibility of such programmes for Travellers.
According to Daly, this begins with challenging not only the stigma associated with mental health, but also the discrimination often directed towards the Traveller culture itself.
Daly acknowledged that while Travellers have not traditionally been very active in political life in Ireland, it is also reasonable to suggest many figures in politics are not ready to accept the work it would take to officially recognise Travellers as an ethnic group.
According to Daly, these social pressures – along with the desolate economic climate – have exacerbated the immense stress that many Travellers already feel.
“A big thing is the feeling of hopelessness and that there is nothing left to live for,” said Daly. “Even though Travellers are very resilient, some things they are not able to deal with.”
The project takes into account political, socio-cultural, economic, technological, environmental and legal factors into its strategy. But the reality is that that people, especially men, are still reluctant to talk.
Grief and bereavement have tremendously affected Travellers as the community itself is so small and the families quite large. Often, said Daly, the death of one member might encourage another to take their life as well.
Alcohol also might have the effect of pushing them to take the extra drastic step, she said.
Daly discussed the prospect of being ridiculed by family as a reason for why those struggling with mental health problems never seek help. Traditionally, she said, men are harder to engage because the perception of them within the community is that of a breadwinner, the strong patriarch.
“Men don’t talk face to face, but rather shoulder to shoulder,” she said.
A particularly successful model for outreach has incorporated activities that men can bond over, such as woodworking. Daly said that the initial relationship established by the activity also encourages participants to open up about themselves more.
She insists that the key to making such programmes work is looking into, preserving and respecting the culture diversity of not just Travellers, but all members of the wider community. The best way for one to become involved and help one another out, she said, is to get informed.
Training workshops sponsored by the NOSP allow people to learn how to start talking about mental health issues and proper steps to intervention.
More information about the NOSP and its services can be found at www.nosp.ie.
