FUCK THE POLICE
911 EVERY DAY
Good luck 
Ireland should consider raising the legal drinking age from 18 to 21 in an effort to reduce suicide rates, an expert in child and adolescent psychiatry from Columbia University in New York has said.
Prof David Schaffer, who is attending the world congress of the International Association for Suicide Prevention in Killarney, said yesterday this would be a way to achieve a quick and significant reduction in suicide rates among young people.
"In the United States it was raised from 18 to 21 and as that happened the first most notable impact was on accidents . . . but there was a 7 per cent reduction in suicides as well . . . and the most interesting thing is it seemed to have a long-lasting effect on alcohol use.
"So when you followed kids who were between the age of 18 to 21 when the law was introduced compared to the 18-21-year-olds before, on into their 20s, they had a lower alcohol use rate. So deferring alcohol use by even those few years seemed to have quite an amazing effect," he said.
"It's not easy to do [ raising the legal age] because there's a lot of public opposition but you see in our studies in the US two-thirds of boys over the age of 16 who commit suicide are suffering from alcohol abuse . . . so it's the major cause of suicide in older teen boys," he added.
"And you know, a lot of people said - well there are always going to be people who are going to break it [ the law] - but any restriction actually tends to have some effect," he said. He also recommended screening all teens in order to pick up early signs of depression which could precipitate suicide later.
Teen screening is carried out in high schools in most US states, he said, and on average 15 per cent of teenagers screened in upper classes have either depression, an anxiety disorder or a substance abuse problem or else were thinking of or had made a suicide attempt. They are then offered help.
Meanwhile, Prof Schaffer warned about using suicide awareness programmes among young people. "They are widely used because there is this widespread belief that if kids only understood they wouldn't do it but that's not how suicide works. Suicide works when you are acutely upset and the lessons you learn when you're not acutely upset are forgotten." Furthermore, there were fears, he said, that they might "normalise" suicide.
The conference, which is being attended by more than 700 delegates from around the world, continues today. President Mary McAleese is due to address delegates this morning.
Ireland should consider raising the legal drinking age from 18 to 21 in an effort to reduce suicide rates, an expert in child and adolescent psychiatry from Columbia University in New York has said.
Prof David Schaffer, who is attending the world congress of the International Association for Suicide Prevention in Killarney, said yesterday this would be a way to achieve a quick and significant reduction in suicide rates among young people.
"In the United States it was raised from 18 to 21 and as that happened the first most notable impact was on accidents . . . but there was a 7 per cent reduction in suicides as well . . . and the most interesting thing is it seemed to have a long-lasting effect on alcohol use.
"So when you followed kids who were between the age of 18 to 21 when the law was introduced compared to the 18-21-year-olds before, on into their 20s, they had a lower alcohol use rate. So deferring alcohol use by even those few years seemed to have quite an amazing effect," he said.
"It's not easy to do [ raising the legal age] because there's a lot of public opposition but you see in our studies in the US two-thirds of boys over the age of 16 who commit suicide are suffering from alcohol abuse . . . so it's the major cause of suicide in older teen boys," he added.
"And you know, a lot of people said - well there are always going to be people who are going to break it [ the law] - but any restriction actually tends to have some effect," he said. He also recommended screening all teens in order to pick up early signs of depression which could precipitate suicide later.
Teen screening is carried out in high schools in most US states, he said, and on average 15 per cent of teenagers screened in upper classes have either depression, an anxiety disorder or a substance abuse problem or else were thinking of or had made a suicide attempt. They are then offered help.
Meanwhile, Prof Schaffer warned about using suicide awareness programmes among young people. "They are widely used because there is this widespread belief that if kids only understood they wouldn't do it but that's not how suicide works. Suicide works when you are acutely upset and the lessons you learn when you're not acutely upset are forgotten." Furthermore, there were fears, he said, that they might "normalise" suicide.
The conference, which is being attended by more than 700 delegates from around the world, continues today. President Mary McAleese is due to address delegates this morning.