I recently read an article on suicide and mental health awareness. There are 452 cases of suicide in 2020 showing an increasing number from the year 2016 at 429 cases. “Awareness of the warning signs and not dismissing concerns are the first steps in helping someone who might have suicidal thoughts, experts have told CNA. With the research data done over the years, I am not immune to the effects of suicide in the community.When it comes to encountering persons with suicidal thoughts due to the nature of the professional relationship formed, I am placed in a position of having to respond appropriately.
Mental Health of my clients
In my recent memory, working in a healthcare setting encountering clients face to face, I do encounter family members of the medically ill seeking help for their suicidal ideation. They asked for my advice on how to seek help in this matter. Being in a position to lend a listening ear, I often do feel that as a neutral third party to the circumstances of the family I have to respond by listening, empathy and tact in handling such a difficult topic.
Still, suicide among my beneficiaries is not a main focus of my work in the community care sector but raising awareness of the financial healthcare schemes to alleviate the finances of being medically ill. I went for an external course on counselling and psychotherapy to understand the dynamics of human interaction in a face to face setting and how to respond in the right body language so that I can respond with sensitivity and tact whenever I am put in such a position. I wished I had a clearer guidelines to respond more appropriately to such a condition.
“The identification of risk factors of suicidality thus provides an opportunity to intervene early thereby lowering the risk of suicides in the population.” With this article’s stand on intervention, I am glad to have done a part on a daily basis to help families in distress by enabling them to access the financial and caregiving resources available.
As a teacher, I do encounter students who express suicide ideation due to the stress and pressures and exams and I often have to analyze how to reduce their intention to “jump down from my flat” if I fail etc. I think across the human lifespan whether they are children or elderly, they share similar human characteristics when faced with mental health distress.
Samaritans of Singapore
I do think that with the pandemic, mental health awareness is important. I am glad to know that the Samaritans of Singapore has done a study and found that it is important for more in the community to be equipped with the literacy of identifying signs of distress or crisis to be able to intervene early.
I would like to share Channel News Asia’s version of what one can do to help the suicidal and here are ways to respond appropriately.
(1) If someone displays warning signs or shares about their thoughts of suicide, we may get startled or react emotionally.
During that time, it is important to do the following:
Remain non-judgemental and show genuine concern. It can also mean providing support, such as a listening ear. Provide them with a safe space to share their thoughts and feelings.
(2) To know whether they are suicidal, ask directly if they are experiencing any suicidal thoughts and thinking of ending their life.
“Often people worry that asking such sensitive questions may make them feel worse. On the contrary, research shows that asking directly can reassure the person in distress that you are ready to have the difficult conversation with them and may be able to provide the much-needed support.”
(3) This is a belief that talking about suicide increases a person’s risk of suicide, but studies have shown that this is not true.
It is key to work to “dispel the myths that surround suicide” – by acknowledging that it is not a rare occurrence, and that talking about it does not lead to someone becoming suicidal. This is especially important as hopelessness is viewed as an important risk factor for suicide. The key message is that suicidal ideation is common, it is not something to be ashamed about, it is transient, and that help is available.
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