Pat's Answer

Hi there, you are very welcome to Ask Pat.

You are wondering if you were to attempt suicide or to self-harm would you be able to go to the hospital like you normally would.

The answer to that would depend on the severity of your injuries. If your injuries were minor, you would take yourself to the hospital as you normally would. If you did self-harm or attempt suicide and your life is in danger, you would have the right to call the emergency services and receive help. The emergency services would then take you to the hospital.

If you were to self-harm or try to end your life and you contacted Childline, we could call the emergency services for you. It would be very important that you get help and support and to be cared for.

We are concerned that you are asking this question. You have the right to speak to someone who can help you find out why you are feeling this way, having thoughts around self-harming or contemplating suicide. You may find this support on the Pieta House website www.pieta.ie . There are also some articles on the Childline website www.childline.ie about feelings, self-harm and suicide.

Childline are always here to listen and to support you. You can give us a call anytime you would like to have a chat. You don’t need to have a problem to call Childline. We are a free, non-judgemental service and are open 24 hours a day on 1800 66 66 66. You may prefer to contact us on our free text service at 50101 or by Web Chat at www.childline.ie.

We wish you well,
Pat