Final presentation

Suicide presentation ppt

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What's next?

If you've been following this blog, you'll see that it contains posts about:

• Suicide intervention training - ASIST
• Campaigns to affect funding and government policy 
• Mental health promotion campaigns
• Services for people who are thinking of suicide and for those bereaved by suicide
• Statistics on suicide in Ireland

So what's next?

Personally:

1. Make a effort to talk more about mental health issues in general. Do your bit to reduce the stigma of suicide and other mental health issues. 
2. Intervene - Follow the steps if you're ever concerned that someone may be suicidal. Be suicide alert, ask the question and help them get help. 
3. Find out more by reading through the links on this blog.

At Community Level - in your town / workplace / school / community centre etc. 

1. Get posters and leaflets promoting mental health issues and display locally. Contact groups like Mental Health Ireland, the National Office for Suicide Prevention and SeeChange for posters or make your own! This shows people in your community that mental health issues and difficulties are not taboo; they're up for discussion. Many groups provide useful booklets outlining main facts on suicide and how to prevent / intervene. SOSAD have a good 8 page booklet (produced in 2010) which I can recommend.
2. Further training - Contact your local Suicide Prevention Officer to find out what courses are coming up. If you have enough people and a venue, ask about running a course or workshop on suicide prevention locally. If you can run courses yourself, many groups provide free training materials to use with young people or adults including the Samaritans. 
3. Local research - find out who to go to in your community if you need help with your mental health. What counselling services are there? What are the costs? Are there any suicide bereavement support groups run locally? Pool your research and let people know what's available locally.

At national level:

1. Help put mental health on the political agenda - next time there's an election coming up ask your politicians what they are doing to prevent suicide and support mental health services. 
2. Support the healthrisk.ie campaign to protect/ increase mental health funding and bring in better policies.

Update on Health Risk campaign - Budget 2011

Update Friday 10th December 2010:

I just got an e-mail from the Healthrisk campaign team. Over 8000 people sent messages to the Taoiseach and Government ministers asking for mental health funding to be protected. The recent 2011 budget contains cuts of 1.8% in mental health funding, much less than other areas, so to some extent it has been a success. They are meeting with Health Minister, Mary Harney and Mr Cathal McGee, CEO of the HSE next week to discuss how how this cut will affect services. Please join the campaign - without those 8000 supporters, there would be no meeting and the cut could have been higher. See excerpt from the e-mail below: 

"It is your continuing support which will help us hold the Government and HSE to account regarding the protection of mental health spending and the implementation of all the recommendations from A Vision For Change. Please continue to check outwww.amnesty.ie/mentalhealth and www.healthrisk.ie for updates and inform ation on upcoming campaigns and events.

Once again, thank you for your ongoing support.

Yours sincerely,

Colm O Gorman, Executive Director, Amnesty International Ireland 

Orla Barry, Director, Irish Mental Health Coalition 

Suicide Intervention - Steps to Take

Following on from recognising the signs that someone might be thinking of suicide, here's the steps involved in making an intervention, adapted from the ASIST model. Again, doing a suicide intervention course is a great way to get a chance to practice the steps and increase your confidence in talking to someone about suicide. But if you are able to listen and if you care, even just reading this now may some day help you to reach out to someone in dire need.

1. The first step is to "Connect" with the person when you recognise the signs or "invitations" that someone may be thinking of suicide. Talk to them. Be open and direct, pointing out what you've observed and that you are concerned. 
Ask them directly if they are thinking of suicide. It is important to use the word 'suicide' or 'suicidal'. Be direct and matter-of-fact about it and be prepared for their answer. If your reaction to a 'yes' answer is shock or anger, it is likely that they will clam up and not say anymore. So your body language and tone are very important. Ask directly and listen to their answer. Do not lecture or judge.

Suicide Intervention - Signs to Recognise

In my last post, I gave a overview of the ASIST course I did last week. Now I want to cover the basic steps involved in the ASIST model. This is not meant to be a substitute for training, but reading and absorbing this might just help you approach the subject with someone at risk of suicide and save a life.

Becoming Suicide Alert - Recognising Signs or ‘Invitations to talk':

The first thing to look at is how people are coping after stressful events with feelings of loss. This could be any crisis or event which is very significant to the person. It may not seem huge to you but it's how they feel about it and how it's affecting them that you need to be aware of it. For example, a pet dying may not seem that massive to you but it may be devastating to their owner. Likewise, some people cope pretty well with unemployment, but many take it as a huge blow. Any life event can be stressful, depending on our reaction to it. If there are feelings of loss after the event, the risk is higher. 

In addition, look out for any of the signs listed below under four categories: Thoughts, Actions, Physical Signs and Feelings. Look out for these signs and be suicide alert. 

How to intervene / what to do next will be outlined in my next post. 

THOUGHTS: Sometimes thoughts are expressed verbally. Listen for:

ASIST - Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training

Last week I went on a two day ASIST course. ASIST stands for Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training and was developed by a Canadian company called Living Works. It is now delivered by over 3000 trainers worldwide, 102 of which are in Ireland. I did the course in Donegal, but they are run all over the country and organised by ASIST Coordinators (usually, but not always a HSE employee). It is funded by the National Office for Suicide Prevention.

The ASIST training consists of two days of practical training in what they call "suicide first aid". This is not like emergency first aid for physical problems. This first aid is for a different type of emergency - when and how to intervene when someone may be contemplating suicide.

Image from www.livingworks.net

Support for people bereaved by suicide

There are a number of groups which offer support to people who have been bereaved by suicide. With offices in Kildare, Dublin, Cork, Galway, Limerick and Wexford,  Console is one of these groups. Set up in 2002, it offers support to those bereaved by suicide through support groups and counselling services. It also runs training programmes, develops training materials and engages in other work to promote public awareness of suicide.

Together with the 3T's, it set up 1Life, a 24 hour helpline for anyone in suicidal distress: 1800 247 100 /  Text "help" to 51444.

Here's a ten minute video clip from Console's DVD 'A Life 2 Live 4' which is aimed at Second Level Senior Cycle classes, Third Level groups where the issues of suicide and suicide bereavement are being addressed and support groups for people bereaved by suicide. This clip provides first hand accounts of people bereaved by suicide. For more details see http://www.console.ie/index.php?contentid=Suicide-Prevention-Projects&sectionid=services

Health Risk! Take action to protect mental health funding

With things changing so fast these days and the budget due next week you may think it's pointless or too late to urge the government not to cut mental health funding. But it's never too late to let your public representatives know that mental health is one area which will need increased, not reduced support during tough economic times. The 'Health Risk' campaign has been led by Amnesty International and the Irish Mental Health Coalition (80+ members made up of groups involved in mental health). If and when the government changes in 2011 and budgets are being looked at by the new government,  I imagine that when they'll renew their campaign. You can understand their campaign by looking at these five facts:

The Last Taboo?

Many people suffering from mental ill health suffer in silence, unlike physical ailments, which by and large will be dealt with without any sense of shame. Why should mental health be different from physical health?

Although many of us may feel that there's nothing we can personally do to help slow down the high rate of suicide in Ireland, we each have the power in our own lives to contribute to de-stigmatising mental health issues. We can do this by talking more openly about our own mental health and encouraging others to do the same. It should be normal to admit and seek help when we are feeling low, anxious or stressed - everyone feels this way at times. The See Change campaign is a small step towards trying to bring about a cultural change in Ireland to make talking about our mental health more acceptable.

As Dr. Tony Bates says in this five minute video "As long as we have stigma and fear and shame out there, people won't reach out for support. They'll go to their grave with some secret rather than reveal to another person that they're not doing okay. And that's crazy, that's the real madness of our society, that you would suffer in silence to the point of taking your life rather than actually say "I'm just not coping"" 

Art From The Heart

From an anonymous contributor to 'Art From the Heart'

I've just come across this website www.headsup.ie/heart which I really like.

Heads Up is a mental health promotion project which aims to contribute to suicide prevention efforts by providing timely, appropriate information and support to young people. Art From the Heart is a section of the site where anyone can create their own piece of art using their own image (or one provided) and adding words to give it meaning. A simple and quick outlet for self expression - give it a go. I just have, it took five minutes and I'll be checking back soon to see it online!

The National Office for Suicide Prevention - An Overview

The National Office for Suicide Prevention is the section of the HSE which co-ordinates suicide prevention efforts in Ireland. I found their 2009 Annual Report most useful when trying to figure out exactly what they do, although the website (www.nosp.ie) is helpful also. According to the Annual Report their primary functions are to:

• Oversee the implementation of ‘Reach Out: the National Strategy for Action on Suicide Prevention 2005-2014'.
• Commission appropriate research into suicide prevention.
• Coordinate suicide prevention efforts around the country. 
• Consult widely and regularly with organisations and interested parties. 

They co-ordinate suicide prevention efforts around the country primarily through their regionally-based Suicide Prevention Officers. You can find your local suicide prevention officer on their website. They also provide once-off or recurring funding to organisations providing direct services such as AWARE, Console, Foroige, GROW, National Youth Council, Pieta House, RehabCare, St. John of Gods and the Samaritans (full list available online). They are behind a number of TV campaigns and mental health promotion websites including yourmentalhealth.ie and letsomeoneknow.ie

Pieta House

Pieta House is the Centre for the Prevention of Self Harm or Suicide. Run almost entirely on donations, it provides a free counselling and support service for people in crisis.  

Pieta House logo

Based in Lucan and Ballyfermot, they offer a holistic approach involving one-to-one counselling, on a daily basis if necessary. They seek respond to people in crisis immediately, helping them to identify reasons to live. They also work with people who self-harm (12,000 people presented in A&E in 2009 after self harming*).  They are also happy to hear from people who are worried about a friend or family member who may be at risk of suicide. For some quick, practical advice see: http://www.pieta.ie/Know_someone_that_needs_help.htm

Setting the Scene: Statistics on Suicide in Ireland 2009/2010

Instances of people taking their own lives has increased in Ireland over recent years and most people have been affected by it in some way. In 2009, 527 people died by suicide, an increase of 24% on 2008* and the highest recorded in any year.

The Central Statistics Office (CSO) recently released their Vital Statistics for the 1st Quarter of 2010 and it appears the situation is not getting any better. In the three months of January, February and March 2010, 104 people took their own lives in Ireland**. This compares with 42 from road accidents***.