This is a topic which is very close to my heart, having experienced as a child, a family member attempt suicide.
When someone takes their own life, the impact on family and friends is devastating and widespread. Too many people are still affected by the tragedy of suicide, which is so often preventable.
That is why it is positive to hear that the government has announced a new National Suicide Prevention Strategy, with many measures to help decrease the number of suicides in England within two and a half years, including a national alert system to combat emerging methods of suicide and refreshed guidance for first responders.
Thousands more people approaching a crisis will get the support they so desperately need and fewer loved ones will go through the heartbreak of losing a friend or relative to suicide.
Over 100 measures have been outlined in the strategy aimed at saving lives, providing early intervention and supporting anyone going through the trauma of a crisis. This includes:
- a new national alert system to notify relevant authorities - like schools, universities, and charities - of emerging methods of suicides and risks, and any required actions that can reduce access or limit awareness
- fresh guidance issued to first responders, recognising new and emerging methods, and how such incidents should be dealt with
- near real-time surveillance of trends in tragic suicides to be introduced on a national scale this year - enabling more timely and targeted actions
- a government pledge to collaborate with countries around the world to target and stop suppliers of dangerous and lethal substances at the source
The strategy also contains measures for specific groups of people. Sadly, middle-aged men, for example, have had the highest rates of suicide of any other group since 2010. Men need appropriate support when experiencing the agony and turmoil of a crisis.
To support them, the strategy therefore includes an action to ensure employers in largely male industries like construction and manufacturing have appropriate support in place for employees, such as mental health first aiders.
Furthermore; in the UK, suicide is sadly the leading cause of direct deaths 6 weeks to a year after the end of pregnancy.
To further understand possible links between these factors and suicide and self-harm, the government is working with various partners to sponsor a project led by the charity Tommy’s and Sands Maternity Consortium, which will engage people who have had suicidal thoughts or self-harmed and present with certain risk factors during the perinatal period.
Suicide prevention is everyone’s business. Every person, organisation and service up and down the country has a role to play. In recent years, good progress has been made to tackle the stigma surrounding suicide and mental health. However, there is more that needs to be done to ensure people are equipped with the skills necessary to potentially save lives.
