Suicide

Citation

(2009), "Suicide", Health Education, Vol. 109 No. 2. https://doi.org/10.1108/he.2009.142109bag.001

Suicide

Article Type: Internet review From: Health Education, Volume 109, Issue 2

Google “suicide” and very quickly you will find web sites that will explain, in considerable detail, the many different ways to commit suicide. In Bridgend in South Wales, a spate of recent suicides by young people has, in part, been attributed to social networking web sites. However, national statistics in the UK and USA have shown that as rates of internet use have grown, so suicide rates have declined, at least since the start of the 1980s. So is the internet a force for good or evil as far as suicide is concerned? In this review we will evaluate those web sites that attempt to support people who might be contemplating suicide.

SAVE

www.save.org/

Suicide Awareness Voices of Education (SAVE) is a North American based web site and the founding organisation has been in existence since 1979. The web site is organised into two main areas, the first dealing with “Suicide and Depression” and the second with “Coping and Resources”. Under the suicide and depression link the user will first of all be able to examine a depression checklist to evaluate the extent to which they might be suffering from the symptoms of depression. Following this a comprehensive section looks at the link between depression and suicide. A question and answer format is used to present the information here and this is also used as a means of dispelling a number of myths surrounding depression and suicide. Also in this section is a Suicide Facts link. A great deal of information can be found here but it would benefit from better organisation.

“Information, Resources and Products” gives the user access to a variety of resources, some of which can be freely downloaded and others that can be purchased online from the SAVE organisation. The reading list provided is extensive and the list of links very detailed and useful. Although aimed mainly at North American users the Community Action Kit ($145) and the LEADS Educational Curriculum ($125) can give users in other parts of the world some ideas on how to prevent suicide.

If the worst does happen, then the section on “Coping” will help the friends and relatives of those who have lost a loved one, to come to terms with this difficult situation.

Finally, in an emergency, a phone number is provided if immediate and personal contact is needed.

This web site is well designed and presented, the content is excellent, and although aimed primarily at users in North America, there is much here that can benefit users from other parts of the world.

Samaritans

www.samaritans.org/

In the UK the Samaritans is probably the leading organisation in terms of offering emotional support to those who need it. From this web site it quickly becomes apparent to the user that the technology favoured by he Samaritans is the telephone rather than the internet. Twenty-four hour telephone helplines operated by 17,000 volunteers is very impressive and of course people with problems can also walk into a Samaritans office 24 hours per day 365 days of the year, if they feel they need face to face help.

Apart from the Introductory, Fund Raising and Recruitment sections of the Samaritans web site, what users will find of most use is he section on “Emotional Health”. This section deals with “Feeling Low”, “Managing Stress”, what to do if you are worried about someone, and there is also a link to “Suicide”. The Suicide section begins with a formal definition of suicide which I am sure would seem rather aloof and academic to a person who was actually contemplating suicide. Following this, the academic vein continues with a discussion about why people commit suicide, how talking can help, and whether you have to be suicidal to talk to the Samaritans. All very interesting, but not much help if I am on the verge of ending my life. Much of the presentation is in the third person, for example it poses the question about what to do if you think someone is at risk? The content sidesteps the issue of the user of this web site actually being the person at risk.

This web site doesn’t pretend to offer any kind of therapeutic intervention for people on the verge of suicide, rather it acts as a conduit to the more conventional forms of person to person therapy that we have come to associate with the Samaritans organisation. Other web sites do attempt to offer some form of help even if it does fall short of “therapy”. Perhaps the Samaritans need to reconsider their modus operandi with a view to embracing all that the internet can offer.

National Suicide Prevention Lifeline

www.suicidepreventionlifeline.org/

In many ways the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is similar to the Samaritans. It offers a free telephone based suicide prevention service to anyone facing a suicidal crisis but where it goes further is in the suicide prevention resources that are available. A simple checklist to identify a possible suicide crisis in your own behaviour or that of others is available and this can be completed online or users can download a Lifeline wallet card that can be kept or given to others who you may think are at risk.

Beyond this simple checklist, and perhaps the most sophisticated feature of this web site is the Lifeline Gallery. Although an integral feature of this web site, the Lifeline Gallery is in fact an independent web site (www.lifelinegallery.org) that uses avatars to get over the message of hope and recovery. For those less familiar with these things, an avatar is a computer users representation of him/herself, an alter ego in the form of a three dimensional character. The avatars in the Lifeline gallery are representations of real people, i.e. people who themselves may have faced a suicidal crisis in their lives. Friends and relatives are also represented so they can give their perspective on the impact that attempted and successful suicide can have. The crucial point about this is that the avatars can speak and therefore the message that comes across is far more immediate and powerful than any text based message ever could be. The avatars are speaking the actual words of people who have attempted suicide, they explain what led them to it, how they coped afterwards and the impact it had on people around them. The only thing that avatars are not allowed to do is say is anything about the methods they used when attempting to commit suicide. Being avatars, the voices are a little robotic, but knowing that these are the messages from real people makes the content particularly heartrending and ultimately persuasive.

This web site represents the use of internet technology at its very best and is a must for anyone interested in how to effectively communicate health education messages whether they be about suicide or any other health related topic.

PAPYRUS

www.papyrus-uk.org/about-us.html

PAPYRUS is a UK based charity whose main aim is to prevent suicide, with a particular focus on children and young people. It attempts to achieve this by involving parents, teachers, friends and health professionals in the monitoring and promotion of positive mental health in young people.

The design of the web site reflects this approach and there are sections dealing with each of the groups described. Starting with the “For You” section, the information provided explains why you might be feeling suicidal, it examines the sorts of problems in life that might lead to these feelings and points out that these sorts of things can happen to anyone.

While presenting an overall sympathetic yet informative view, it doesn’t pull any punches. For example it points out that … “If you take your own life, there is no turning back, no second chance. Death is final.” It then goes on to ask the user, i.e. the person who may be thinking about suicide, to think about the consequences for those who are left behind and for the people who may find the body. All pretty grim stuff!

The “For Parents” section again presents a great deal of information and practical advice. It identifies the warning signs, e.g. depression, drug use and withdrawal. It discusses why a young person might start thinking about suicide, and it emphasises the importance of listening and talking as a way of dealing with difficult issues. Finally, for parents who do have real worries about a child, there is HopeLinkUK, a PAPYRUS telephone service that provides support, information and guidance, not just for parents, but for anyone who is worried about a young person they know, who may be at risk of suicide.

After parents and friends, it would probably be teachers who might notice the warning signs indicating that a young person was having serious emotional problems. The “For Teaches” section provides teachers with an insight into those behaviours that might be indicative of a serious emotional problem in their pupils. For example when children start giving things away for no apparent reason, self-harm, becoming withdrawn or disruptive. Advice is given on how the teacher should respond to these behaviours with talking, listening and reassurance being at the forefront of the guidance offered.

If despite all the advice, help and guidance offered, a pupil (or even a member of staff) does actually take their own life, what should the teacher or school do then. This topic is dealt with in some detail with much practical information on offer. For teachers there are also a number of useful resource packs available though these have to be ordered by telephone, they are not available online.

This web site may not be as technologically sophisticated as the previous, indeed the design is rather simplistic, but the content and the way it is presented is very good, and if you were ever in a situation where you needed a help such as this, then you would gain a great deal from this web site.