‘Suicide Alertness’ training
Aiming to coordinate a ‘Wellness College’ for Moray (where all courses for improving wellbeing can be found in one place), the hub has been working with Moray Council training department to promote their suicide awareness courses on SafeTALK in June 2017. Additionally our Champions have been attending these courses to learn ways that we can support those attending with any further support as peers. As a result of their reflections on what they needed themselves in terms of post-course support, we are trialling a “debreif and support” peer-led meeting after the next course. Here folk can chat about their own experinces around suicide that might have come up as a result of the course, and then practice wellness tools with our peer-trainers that can support them to deal with the heavy emotions this can create. Leading on this work is Champion Chris who shares his own perspective on the course later in this peice, but first some reflections from Andy, another Champion, involved in this work.
Reflections on SafeTALK training by Martin Kirwan, Moray Council 20th May 17.
SafeTALK Course – A very interesting course which formalised the common sense ideas I felt I already had, but it reinforced the need to apply these at the first ‘detection of need’ (a cry for help), and provide a pathway to further help. As a empathetic and caring individual I do feel I do this, but knowing what to do after a disclosure or on detecting a potential disclosure, I now feel much more able to apply the TALK element and take action.
Follow-up meeting on peer-support around SafeTALK courses – This was a valuable period of time to sit down and discuss the next actions to be taken, I do see a need to conduct some sort of reflection period following the SafeTALK course, I think it ought to be a day or two after the course if possible or even, immediately after the course with an opportunity to maintain contact afterwards. I say this because it took a few days for me to process and apply my situation to the course content; I wouldn’t have had the opportunity to add value without these extra few days.
I also feel there might be some benefit in both spreading the word to increase attendance, but it needs to be countered by possibly by providing awareness to ensure the content did not cause upset and ill feeling.
Submitted by Andy.
Reflections on SafeTALK, 20 May 2017, and personal experiences around suicide.
*Please note that the following reflection is a very open and honest personal reflection around suicide and living with suicidal thought. Although it is a positive peice, providing hope that recovery around suicide is possible, Chris is keen that people are aware this may be challenging and asks that people are mindful of their own wellbeing before reading*
I took this course as a stepping stone on my journey of recovery and self-knowledge, since I have experience of intrusive thoughts and suicidal intentions.
For me I felt SafeTALK was a sort of a prequel to Mental Health First Aid, because it deals with how you might want to interact with people thinking of suicide, rather than on the verge of suicide.
Some sobering statistics were given, at any time 5% – that’s 1 in 20, or to put it more starkly, in my WRAP course I attended last year, one or other of us was thinking about suicide at any given time. I learned that people contemplating suicide want to talk about it and send ‘invitations’ out all the time; some ‘invitations’ are offered in the course of conversation, in a particular turn of phrase such as saying something like ‘life is just so hard right now’, but a lot of conversation is non-verbal, so trust your gut – if you have a gut instinct that the person is suicidal, ask the question.
This fundamental premise was then backed up with a large amount of practical information, tools and reality checks to get your mind into a place to be receptive to the point of being able to be of practical effective help to our despairing brothers and sisters, our fellow humans.
The course was completed with the warning to look after ourselves first, we must always be conscious of our own health.
Well, that was the easy part…….. this reflection, not so much. I had at first thought of asking that this post be anonymised, but that goes against all that I have promised when I signed up to be a Champion, and also removes my sense of wellbeing , satisfaction and pride that I feel when I am interacting with people as a MWH Champion ( I use capitals on purpose, because I believe that this is a qualification equally as valid as my degree, and I am proud to be a Champion and able to draw strength, inspiration and love from this amazing collective); as Champions we promise to go into the community and talk about our lived experience in mental challenges to remove stigma and help others to understand and come to terms with their own challenges. And that means not just the good stuff…….. 🙁
The course content got very difficult for me personally, because my suicidal thoughts and inclinations had never been directly challenged and held up to the harsh daylight of Truth by the various professionals I have seen over the years. All of us who are embarked upon this voyage of discovery and recovery will find ourselves suddenly in stormy conditions at various stages when the the big waves of Revelation and Doubt come crashing aboard and we have to hang on tightly to avoid being washed overboard. At the very least, it’s going to leave us cold and frightened.
Twice now I have been on courses run by Martin and both times he came up with insights that stopped me in my tracks. This time, it was the discovery and exploration of the planning and the invitations which resonated so greatly, because I realised their place in my own experiences and patterns of behavior. Ironically, the two I times I actually attempted suicide I had not planned it, it was very much spur of the moment and I managed to save myself in the first instance and attracted attention and help in the second. However, since then, I have planned to commit suicide – and it’s vital that we use that word rather than any euphemism to be crystal clear what we are talking about – and have gone through careful planning because as a logical person and an engineer who deals
However, since then, I have planned to commit suicide – and it’s vital that we use that word rather than any euphemism to be crystal clear what we are talking about – and have gone through careful planning because as a logical person and an engineer who deals in known factors and their subsequent actions and effects, I had made a logical case that suicide was the only workable solution to the problem.
Thankfully I had thrown out enough invitations to allow someone to pick up the signals and Ask the Question, “Are you thinking of suicide?”, which allowed me to get into a discussion and begin a journey to a healthier place. This has happened a couple of times, but I firmly believe that by using my WRAP, my amazing and beloved supporters, and the fresh insights from Martin’s SafeTALK course, I can identify and combat the intrusive thoughts before they become an obsession and twisted logic causes me to see suicide as an answer again.
If you would like to share any feedback on this blog, or regarding your own reflections about attending a course or any other related experience in mental health and wellbeing, please get in touch.
