Pieta House is a non-profit organisation providing a specialised treatment programme for people who have suicidal ideation or who participate in self-harming behaviors. Our service is FREE of CHARGE. 80% of our income comes from Fundraising Events and donations.

"Pieta House, set up in 2006, was the first centre in Ireland that specialised in the prevention of self-harm and suicide. Pieta is an alternative way of helping people in crisis, but it is also a way that encourages collaboration with hospitals and doctors. We are all born with an innate desire to survive.
As humans our instinct is to live and avoid pain, and our struggle is mainly about self-preservation. That is why suicide and self-harm seem not only terrifying but also inexplicable. It is probably why both are rarely spoken about. Suicide is still a taboo subject, while self harm is normally consigned to sensationalist story lines on melodramas or labelled as being eccentric behavior of some celebrities. On top of that, there has never been any focused attention paid to it or any focused therapy created for the behaviour.
Before Pieta, people who were suicidal would often end up either in hospital, in a psychiatric unit or heavily medicated - sometimes all three. In many cases, patients were put on 'suicide watch', a procedure that involves the patient being watched by a nurse or carer every moment of every day - even while having showers or using the toilet. In some cases, this was the only way to guarantee the patient's safety - there was no alternative, and whether we liked the practice or not, lives were saved. However, we were convinced that there had to be some other way of helping people who were suicidal."

Extract taken from Pieta House CEO, Joan Freemans book - Understanding Self-Harm

SUICIDE, SELF HARM & MENTAL HEALTH IN THE NEWS

Reilly wants health cuts plan to be 'more ambitious'
Irish Times 06th January 2012
Minister for health James Reilly is to ask the Health Service Executive to redraft its service plan for 2012, which proposes wide-ranging cuts to frontline services.

Mental health festival gets under way
Irish Times 04th January 2012
The country's first arts festival dedicated to promoting mental-health awareness has opened in Dublin with a wide range of music, film, theatre and more promised over the next two weeks.
Almost one-quarter of Irish people have personal experience of mental illness or a suicide in their peer group.

Suicide warning over some anti-depressants
Irish Examiner, 24 December 2011
The Irish Human Rights Commission (IHRC) has written to the Medical Council, requesting that patients are informed that certain anti-depressants can cause suicidal thoughts as a potential side effect. The IHRC is also urging on going supervision when the drugs are prescribed. The anti-depressants are known are SSRls, and popular brands include Prozac, Zoloft, Lexapro Paxil and Celexa.

Suicide prevention helpline receives 99 calls every day
Irish Examiner, 22 December 2011
A national suicide prevention and intervention helpline is receiving around 99 calls a day, figures reveal. A total of 33,453 calls were made to the ILife suicide helpline service last year. Of those who called, 8,121 agreed to be referred to third parties or emergency services in a bid to secure immediate help. Most of the calls to ILife, operated and funded by Console and the 3Ts, are made by people aged between 31 and 45.

Role of drink in self-harming revealed
Irish Examiner, 19 December 2011
One in six boys aged 10 to 14 had been drinking alcohol when they self- harmed, figures reveal. The involvement of alcohol at the time the self-harm occurred increased to almost 44% for men aged between 25 and 29.

Suicide body calls for drink awareness
Irish Times, 19 December 2011
Director of research at the National Suicide Research Foundation Dr Ella Arensman said people should be more careful about what they drink and how much they drink, following the publication of figures that indicate a link between alcohol consumption and self-harm.