Suicide is a leading cause of death of men in Northern Ireland, and recent studies have shown that one in five students here have engaged in self harm. In this talk Siobhan will discuss the factors associated with suicidal behaviour and self-harm including the role of mental illness and emotional regulation. She will explain the psychological and biological functions of suicidal behaviour as the basis for an understanding of what we can do to address this problem, and what treatments work to address this problem. In this talk Siobhan will discuss her own recent studies of factors impacting on suicidal behaviour in public places, and the evidence of suicidal behaviour as a result of the transgenerational legacy of the Troubles.

Speaker Biography

Professor Siobhan O’Neill is a Professor of Mental Health Sciences at Ulster University where she has worked for almost 20 years. In 2008 Siobhan coordinated the largest ever study of mental health in Northern Ireland, which was part of the World health Organisation’s World Mental Health Survey Initiative. This study revealed the high proportions of the NI population who engaged in suicidal behaviour and self harm. Siobhan subsequently coordinated the NI suicide study, a study of the characteristics of over 1600 suicides and undetermined deaths and the first comprehensive mental health study of student mental health in NI. She has over 140 research papers in peer-reviewed journals. Siobhan is also a member of the Board of Directors of the Irish National Suicide Research Foundation, and counselling charity Youthlife. She sits on the Advisory Board of the National Confidential Inquiry into Suicide and Homicide in people with a mental illness in the UK and is a member of the NI Towards Zero Suicide Collaborative group. Her current research programmes focus on mental health in school children, the transgenerational transmission of trauma, and suicide crisis line caller behaviour.