PICS: Empty Backpacks Represent Students’ Lives Lost To Suicide In Powerful Campaign At Trinity

131 empty backpacks were scattered across the lawn of Trinity College Dublin for an important reason yesterday. The empty bags represent the average number of students whose lives are lost to suicide each year, in a powerful suicide prevention campaign initiated by 3Ts' (Turn The Tide of Suicide, pleasetalk.org and the Union of Students in Ireland.) The display was unveiled at Trinity yesterday, with students encouraged to write messages on the bags as part of the initiative which aims to connect students to mental health support and inspire action for suicide prevention.

#sendsilencepacking @TheUSI @3Ts_irl let's send Silence Packing and end the stigma around mental health pic.twitter.com/AoEkoGX1p6

— Please Talk (@PleaseTalkorg) February 22, 2016

Aoife ní Shúilleabháin, vice-president for welfare at USI said: “We have come a long way in the past few years but there is still a lot of stigma around mental health and some people are not as willing as they should be to discus their issues. “Many students are almost at crisis level before they look for help. We are hoping to change that.” Aoife pointed out that it can take up to eight weeks for a student suffering with mental health difficulties to get an appointment with a counsellor: “Research shows that 71% of students regularly feel down. We desperately need funding for community-based mental health services. Part of that would be a 24-7 service. “At the moment, the only option for many students is to go to an A&E department in a hospital, but they could be waiting eight or nine hours to see anyone. “We need those who hope to be our next leaders to recognise the importance of investment in mental-health services and their fundamental importance to students in need.” Treasa Hanniffy of pleasetalk.org said: “Talking to someone we trust is often the hardest step to take but the most crucial step. “This initiative highlights the need for us to tackle the stigma attached to mental health and suicide which prevents young people from reaching out and seeking help.” Scott Ahern of 3Ts (Turn The Tide of Suicide)  said the campaign presents an "opportunity to start a conversation about suicide prevention". Our messages are simple: be there for someone by simply listening, reach out when times are tough, and find your on-campus and off-campus support services at pleasetalk.org. The bags will appear in colleges across the country in the coming weeks, with the next stop Athlone IT on Thursday followed by NUI Galway on 14 March.