SANE Australia has released a simple guide that will enable suicide workers to support people who are at risk in taking their own lives.
Charmaine Smith, Acting CEO of SANE Australia, explains the scope of this guide, in saying, “Supporting people who are experiencing suicidal thoughts and behaviours can be a challenging and daunting task. The Suicide Prevention and Recovery Guide aims to inform a range of mental health workers about different ways to address the issue of suicide with their clients.”
While not every patient with mental illness will suffer from suicidal thoughts and behavior, people with bipolar and depression, borderline personality disorder and schizophrenia are more likely to have these thoughts while being at a greater risk to act upon it.
Ms. Smith goes on to explain the importance the role of mental health workers in preventing suicide yet the difficulty that remains is that not all of them have the skills necessary to carry out their job effectively, as there are no set standards in this field.
She also says that it is important to take a step back to evaluate and reflect on how they go about their work is imperative to helping patients demonstrating suicidal thoughts.
It’s also the reason why this guide, which helps suicide workers empower patients through the practical steps it offers, is recommended for reading by suicide workers around the world. The creation of this Suicide Prevention and Recovery Guide, which is available for download over the internet, was funded by the Department of Health and Aging.
To sum it up, the guide focuses on taking a holistic approach towards the person they are caring for while also involving them in decision-making and encouraging individual responsibility.