World Suicide Prevention Day 2020
- pwpeersupport
- Sep 10, 2020
- 2 min read
By Dimitri Georgiev
TW: suicide
Today, the 10th September, is World Suicide Prevention Day. Alongside many other mental health organisations, we recognise the importance of improving people’s mental health as a way to help prevent suicide, which we are unfortunately seeing increased rates of in recent years (particularly affecting men and young people under 25).
Suicide is a topic that still seen by some as a taboo point of discussion. There is still plenty of stigma surrounding mental health issues and suicide, which can make it difficult for those affected to share their experiences and seek help. Raising awareness for it is therefore all the more important (especially considering the recent trends and statistics). It’s important to recognise that many of us do go through hardships in our lives that can threaten to compromise our mental wellbeing, at times being accompanied by feelings of despair and a sense of ‘no way out’.
We wish to bring attention to this in an attempt to encourage a more open conversation about mental health issues and struggles as something that many people do in fact experience. Reducing the stigma surrounding mental health can allow for more people to feel able to discuss their experiences without judgment. Hopefully, people who are affected can feel more comfortable in reaching out to loved ones, colleagues, or even a support group; this can be a crucial step to improving one’s mental wellbeing and preventing suicide. If you think someone is struggling or you yourself are struggling, starting a conversation may just be one of the key factors for recovery. Suicide is preventable and fostering positive mental wellbeing via respectful discussion has a large role to play in this.
Our group is one of the many available services that you can confide in if you are dealing with low mood. Our team of trained fellow students is here to actively listen to anybody who is struggling and needs someone to talk to. We are available at the end of our sessions to speak to people more privately. If you are, however, experiencing a mental health crisis, then it would be best to seek out professional help or refer to any crisis resources (e.g. helplines). For extra support and advice relating to the topic (including a selection of crisis resources), we have a collection of resources on our website that feature a variety of helpful tools, helplines, and sources of information to help you maintain a healthy, positive state of mind.
Sources and helpful resources:
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