World Suicide Prevention Day

World Suicide Prevention Day

It’s not an easy topic to discuss, however with World Suicide Prevention Day due tomorrow, 10 September, it seems timely to address it and continue to shine the light on what is a difficult, stigmatised and complex issue.

IASP reports that suicide is sadly within the top 20 causes of death universally. It does not discriminate against age, gender or race. Over 800,000 deaths a year are through suicide, meaning every 40 seconds we lose another person to it.

It is estimated that for every one person who dies in this manner, the knock-on effect reaches over 130 people that were involved in that person’s life, which can cause a huge amount of distress, intense grief and a variety of mental health concerns if symptoms continue for prolonged periods and if people don’t receive support.

IASP highlight that over 108 million people per year are intensely impacted by suicidal behaviour. They consider suicidal behaviour to not only include suicide, but also suicidal ideation (thinking about suicide) and suicide attempts.

What can we do to help prevent suicide?

• Show concern, compassion and empathy.
• Notice changes in behaviour
• Dare to have a challenging and supportive conversation with someone who you think is struggling.
• You may hear things you didn’t expect to hear, things you don’t like personally, it may be offensive or make you uncomfortable- remember it’s about the person you are talking to. People in dark places say dark things- be prepared to suspend judgement on the content and simply listen.
• Evidence suggests that talking about suicide does not ‘plant’ ideas in people’s head; talking can make a difference.
• Offering support and listening to people can help alleviate stress and pressure.

IASP support the following approach in their current Take a Minute campaign:

• ‘Take a minute to notice what is going on with you, your family, your friends and your colleagues.
• Take a minute to reach out and start a conversation if you notice something is different.
• Take a minute to find out what help is available for both you and others.’

https://www.iasp.info/wspd2019/take-a-minute/

This blog admittedly barely touches the surface, however it felt important to raise is as a topic and get website visitors engaged with the subject in order to raise awareness; for more information please visit: https://www.iasp.info/wspd2019/ and https://www.time-to-change.org.uk/