Spotting the signs and Preventing Suicide
According to statistics from the World Health Organisation, more than 700 000 people die by suicide every year. Furthermore, for each suicide, there are more than 20 suicide attempts.
Suicides and suicide attempts have a ripple effect that impacts on families, friends, colleagues, communities and societies.
Employers have a crucial role to play in suicide prevention. People in work spend about one-third of their lives at their place of employment. Colleagues and line managers can provide an important social and emotional support network, built on shared experiences.
Employers are in a unique position to help colleagues understand the importance of wellbeing and good mental health, and the knowledge of how to keep safe and well and how to spot the signs of being unwell.
Health services:
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How Loch Training & Wellbeing can help:
Our training equips your managers to spot the signs of someone who is suicidal and gives them the confidence to have a conversation which could save a life.
Our training is run as a 90 minute seminar for 20-30 people at a cost of £500 plus VAT for a single session.
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What are the warning signs to look out for if an employee is considering suicide?
According to the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, people at risk of suicide may:
- show an abrupt change in mood or behaviour
- exhibit a sense of hopelessness, helplessness, intense anxiety
- increase substance use
- withdraw socially and avoid friends, family, and activities that they previously enjoyed
- neglect their appearance
- articulate the wish to die or end their life (for e.g. “Everyone would be better off if I wasn’t here”)
- give away cherished possessions or prepare for their death (like creating a will)
Whilst, as an employer, you might not be able to spotall of these warning signs, by keeping a close eye on employees, you’re more likely to pick up on something if it feels different to usual.
What preventive steps can employers take?
As the employer/manager, you are familiar with your team’s strengths, shortcomings, habits, and backgrounds, especially if your employees have worked for you for a long period.
This puts you in a unique position to notice changes in behaviour and/or output when a worker may be struggling to cope.
Employers should:
- Make efforts to destigmatize mental health in the workplace
- Connect employees to mental health resources
- Educate employees about suicide
- Check in regularly with staff
- Prevent workplace bullying and harassment
- Create a mental health policy for your workplace
Why can suicide support at work sometimes seem ineffective?
When programs are not being used, it’s often because they’re isolated within a department and employees don’t know about them until they’re dealing with a mental health concern or struggling with suicidal thoughts. Ideally, employers should create ongoing awareness campaigns, and share resources so that people know where to go before it becomes a crisis. Involving as many departments and employees as possible ensures that the resources and services available to employees are visible and being utilised.
