two girls in my high school killed themselves. More than 20 years ago. One had gone through depression since primary school and hanged herself at 17, the other threw herself down the stairs after her boyfriend dumped her.

A few years later, my friend's brother (from Waterford, funnily enough, Peter Laban) wrote off his father's car and couldn't face his parents. He went into their barn and blew his brains out with a shotgun.

All of these happened within my acquaintance, decades ago, indicating that this is not a recent phenomenon. None of these deaths was related to education or exam pressure.