"QUESTION: What did John Wayne have? Answer: The Big C. He had to say that, even though he was dying from it, because cancer could not be mentioned back then. Now it can – and now look at cancer treatment."
That's the message of Co Antrim poet and mental health campaigner Carol Kelly, who says that it is only with a similar approach to suicide – "our biggest killer" – that attitudes and, following on from that, numbers will change.
"We don't know the true figures for suicide," Kelly says. "Such deaths are often recorded as 'death by misadventure'. However, when we count these deaths correctly we can perhaps stop them; if we don't, they get worse."
She adds: "We go to the funerals but we never get the proper statistics. Why not call a spade a spade?"
Kelly will give a reading from her book More Tea tomorrow evening in Portstewart as part of her ongoing efforts to raise awareness of suicide and break the taboos surrounding talking openly about it.
The book features a picture of Mrs Doyle from Father Ted on the cover, reflecting that it's not all serious.
"There are very funny poems and some that are quite profound," Kelly, whose previous collections include Champagne from a Teacup and Schizo As it Was, says.
In 2013 Kelly, who suffers from bipolar disorder and catatonic schizophrenia, won an award at the Scottish Mental Health Arts and Film Festival, along with film-maker Patrick Trolan, for the film Considering Carol.
:: Carol Kelly will read from More Tea in Portstewart Library tomorrow, March 24, 6pm-7.30pm.
