SUICIDE PREVENTION
CREATING HOPE THROUGH ACTION
It’s important to learn about the warning signs and risk factors of suicide. You should also take proactive steps to safeguard your own mental health, encourage help-seeking, and empower your friends, family, colleagues, and communities to support one another should a crisis occur
World Suicide Prevention Day (WSPD) was established in 2003 by the International Association for Suicide Prevention in conjunction with the World Health Organisation (WHO). The 10 September each year aims to focus attention on suicide and suicide prevention, reducing stigma and raising awareness among organisations, government, and the public, giving a singular message that suicide can be prevented. “Creating hope through action” is the triennial theme for the World Suicide Prevention Day from 2021 - 2023. This theme is a reminder that there is an alternative to suicide and hopes to inspire confidence and light in all of us. According to the WHO, around the world an estimated 703,000 people take their life each year. For every suicide there are likely 20 other people making a suicide attempt and many more have serious thoughts of suicide. Millions of people suffer intense grief or are otherwise profoundly impacted by suicidal behaviours. Each death is a public health concern and
has a profound impact on those around the victim. By raising awareness, reducing the stigma around suicide, and encouraging well-informed action, we can reduce instances of suicide around the world. The College of Policing, National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC), Association of Police and Crime Commissioners, Home Office, Unison, Police Federation of England and Wales and Police Superintendents Association have a joint strategy to reduce the number of deaths by suicide across the police service in England and Wales that has been agreed in a consensus statement.
“Working together to prevent suicide in the police service”, discusses the progress made to reduce the stigma surrounding mental health, recognising that the service must work together to improve the mental health of its people. The consensus statement was developed using learning from the ambulance service’s approach to suicide prevention by Oscar Kilo, the National Police Wellbeing Service (NPWS). The statement is also supported by an additional publication that sets out the current landscape of the risk of suicide in the police service compared to the risk across the general public.
“We can all play a role in supporting those experiencing a suicidal crisis or those bereaved by suicide.”
By creating hope through action, we can signal to people experiencing suicidal thoughts that there is hope and that we care and want to support them. It also suggests that our actions, no matter how big or small, may provide hope to those who are struggling. Lastly, it highlights the importance of
setting suicide prevention as a priority public health agenda, particularly where access to mental health services and the availability of evidence-based interventions are already low. Building on this theme and spreading this message over the three years, a world can be envisioned where suicides are not so prevalent. Belinda Goodwin, PFEW Wellbeing
Lead said, “As the wellbeing lead for PFEW we have been focusing on prevention
rather than cure, with regards to the mental health of our officer’s mental health. We are in a much better place now compared to 5 years ago around the taboo of talking about our mental health.
“PFEW is asking for more investment and time for our officers to have preventative techniques taught to them from the outset of their policing career. If we can monitor officers’ mental wellbeing early on, we will be more able to identify an issue before it becomes unmanageable, and they are left mentally broken.
“If we put the financial investment in from the outset we will be in a
much better position within policing for the future. We know early intervention can help avoid mental health issues escalating to the point of suicide. One suicide is one too many and our work aims to ensure that all forces accept the risk and do all in their power to prevent any officer reaching such a point of crisis. This is one of our priorities as an organisation.” We can all play a role in supporting those experiencing a suicidal crisis or those bereaved by suicide, whether as a member of society, as a child, as a parent, as a friend, as a colleague or as a person with lived experience. We can all encourage understanding of the issue, reach out to people who are struggling and share our experiences. We can all create hope through action and be the light.
29 | POLICE | AUGUST | 2023
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