Suicide is a serious concern for any society. It can happen for many reasons and a timely intervention can save numerous lives.
We can take various steps at the community level to prevent suicide. We need more and more gatekeepers for suicide prevention in the community: More often than not, we fail to identify people who may have suicidal ideations and thus miss the opportunity to assist them in seeking timely help.
The individual in despair may not be able to think about any other solution than suicide.
Helping the individual to open up about her/his feelings, exploring if s/he could be thinking of suicide and assisting her/him to seek help can make the change.
It is, therefore, imperative that we sensitise people from all walks of life to serve as gatekeepers for suicide prevention so that an individual with suicidal ideations can be identified at the right juncture.
A gatekeeper to suicide can be anyone: a teacher, a community leader, a housewife, a manager at the workplace, and so on.
They essentially do three things: try to identify individuals who may have suicidal ideations, persuade these individuals to seek help (including mental health support) and guide them to the right place (like a referral to a mental health expert).
Mental health experts often run these gatekeeper training programs.
This training helps the learner understand that talking to a person who may have suicidal ideations is important and there are certain things that one should keep in mind while talking to such individuals; for example, one should not be judgemental and impose our viewpoints, should not trivialise their concerns, and should not mock them when they are expressing their worries.
Also, it helps in having some understanding of what are the signs of thoughts related to suicide that an individual may have, and how not to make wrong judgements due to the misconceptions prevalent in society.
Imparting awareness about mental illnesses: A suicide can happen due to numerous factors. Mental illnesses, such as depression, can be one of the important factors for suicide.
Many times, due to stigma, lack of awareness and other similar reasons, people with mental illnesses may not seek help.
It can lead to undesirable consequences, including suicide. Therefore, imparting awareness about mental illnesses and destigmatising it are important steps towards suicide prevention.
The World Health Organization has published many materials and videos that can help people understand mental illnesses objectively and learn how and why to seek help. For example, a fourminute video titled “I had a black dog, his name was depression” explains depression, its effects and the need for treatment in an effective manner.
Mental health promotion and life-skills enhancement: Apart from imparting awareness about mental illnesses, equally important is to take those steps that promote mental health. According to the WHO, mental health is not an absence of mental illnesses. It is a wider concept that essentially refers to a state of wellbeing in which an individual realises her/his potentials, copes with the stresses of life and works productively.
Factors such as resilience, self-esteem, life satisfaction and social connectedness are considered the elements of mental health.
These factors not only enhance the well-being of the individual but are also considered to protect people from suicide. For example, resilience helps people deal with various challenges effectively rather than getting overwhelmed by them.
Likewise, being connected with others in society, having a non-judgemental approach with unconditional positive regards towards others and the ability to use emotions in a constructive manner ensure our emotional well-being and help in dealing with emotional upheavals effectively.
A major step to boost mental health can be the enhancement of life skills such as effective problem-solving ability, capacity to deal with stresses and negative emotions, maintaining healthy interpersonal relationships, having an empathic relationship with others, improving the capacity of critical thinking, and so on.
Attention to mental health, including life-skills enhancement, needs to be part of larger society. It is argued that life skills should not just be a part of school curriculum; rather it should be part of the school environment.
The classroom, playground activities, teacherstudent interactions and the like should all be facilitative of mental health.
If children are helped in a proactive manner to imbibe and enhance life skills, which may in turn build virtues such as resilience and stress tolerance, it can be a major safeguard against suicide in society. Even organisations need to build an environment that encourages healthy interpersonal relationships, effective stress management and a sense of belonging.
The media coverages of suicide should be responsible: The WHO has given guidelines about how news related to suicide must be covered so that it does not sensationalise it or make it seem like the solution to a problem, what kind of placement the story should be given in print or electronic media, what should be covered and what should not be mentioned, why the psychological state of family members and others should be kept in mind, and so on.
The title of this resource material is “Preventing Suicide: A Resource for Media Professionals”. The purpose of these guidelines is to sensitise media personnel to understand that suicide is an intricate issue and its coverage should neither lead to imitative behaviour by some nor be psychologically traumatising for others.
If you are having suicidal thoughts, or are worried about a friend or need emotional support, someone is always there to listen. Call AASRA's 24x7 Helpline: +91-9820466726 for assistance.