World Suicide Prevention Day September 10th 2018 [Marcus Jones]

Our organisation enhances many lives and those of The Four Club Family members around the world, including similar service organisations. We change lives with fantastic community projects, we make a difference in the most difficult areas of the world.

Simply put we bring people together.

Within our service community of members and volunteers around the world suicide has already impacted on loved ones, our members and their families.

Over the last five years I personally know five members that have lost their lives to this uncompromising subject. It’s become my personal challenge to support those who supports others. I asked myself the simple question.

“Who supports the very individuals who help others in society?”, the answer is there is very little, apart from the support we offer each other within the DNA of our organisations through the positivity and fellowship, sadly sometimes even that is not enough.

‘Volunteers Supporting Volunteers” that’s the target of The Links Foundation Team, targeting wellbeing to prevent the loss of life, through education, encouragement and engagement via the work we are engaged in.

Today aim to talk to someone, within your group that maybe you have not heard from for a while, you may think that they are not responding to emails out of choice, it may be more than you think?

Here is some of the great advice by Mind in the UK.

Let’s talk about the reality of suicide!

Over 800,000 people die by suicide annually, representing 1 person every 40 seconds!

Suicide is the 15th leading cause of death globally, account for 1.4% of all deaths.
The global suicide rate is 11.4 per 100 000 population.
15.0/100 000 for males.
8.0/100 000 for females.
Suicide is the leading cause of death in people aged 15-24 in many European countries.
Globally suicide rates among this age group are higher in males than females.
Self-harm largely occurs among older adolescents, and globally is the 2nd leading cause of death for older adolescent girls.
In 2012, 76% of global suicide occurred in low- and middle-income countries 39% of which occurred in the South-East Asia Region.
In 25 countries (within WHO member states) suicide is currently still criminalised.
In an additional 20 countries suicide attempters may be punished with jail sentences, according to Sharia law.
Suicide is the result of a convergence of risk factors including but not limited towards genetic, psychological, social and cultural risk factors, sometimes combined with experiences of rauma and loss.
Depression is the most common psychiatric disorder in people who die by suicide.
50% of individuals in high income countries who die by suicide have major depressive disorder at their time of death.
For every 1 suicide 25 people make a suicide attempt.
135 people are affected by each suicide death.
This equates to 108 million people bereaved by suicide worldwide every year.
Relatives and close friends of people who die by suicide are a high-risk group for suicide, due to the psychological trauma of a suicide loss and potential shared familial and environmental risk, auicide contagion through the process of social modelling, and the burden of stigma associated with this loss.
Effective suicide prevention strategies need to incorporate public health policy strategies and healthcare strategies, incorporating measure with the strongest evidence of efficacy such as: restriction of access to lethal means; treatment of depression; ensuring chain of care; and school-based universal prevention.

“We have all lost a friend, colleague or know someone who has lost a their fight against depression and related issues around Mental Health to Suicide”.

“Life is Now Keep Smiling” “Links”; www.thelinksfoundation.com, let’s help others by raising the awareness of mental health today and share how positive wellbeing can be of support, just like your conversation today with a friend, so make that call!

Today is World Suicide Prevention Day, call someone you haven’t heard from for a while and check they are okay and remember in our organisation we can support each other.

Please share this post to make it okay to talk.

Yours in Continued Friendship

Marcus Jones
Beeston 41 Club
Past RTBI President