“I’m
seriously considering suicide.” Words a
Depression Bipolar Support Alliance (DBSA) group facilitator least likes to
hear. Hand the person a hot line
number? Show empathy? Share experiences that show depression and
the life experiences leading to it aren’t hopeless? Cut off talk of suicide methods? Reinforce that the group members care about
the person? Refer to a
psychiatrist? All of these and many
other strategies may be appropriate for the specific individual and group. Similarly for suicide prevention
organizations, the challenges are similar in that they cannot cover all
potential strategies themselves, for instance the power of shared experience. To improve the capabilities of both organizations,
the DBSA support groups in Denver and Aurora,
Colorado are beginning a partnership with the Carson J Spencer Foundation in Denver.
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| Photo by Craig Miller |
The Foundation is seeking collaborative efforts designed to
shift culture and make suicide prevention a health and safety priority in our
communities. The aspiration is that Zero
Suicides should be the goal (what other number is appropriate?) and that
including peers from groups like DBSA is a critical element of the suicide
prevention movement. There are numerous
opportunities for including peer support.
Providing and receiving help from peers with
similar experiences helps counteract risk factors for suicidal behavior such as
hopelessness, impulsiveness, isolation, shame, and symptoms of mental health
disorders. Connectedness of family and
friends to the individual and prevention organizations is a common thread that
weaves together many of the influences of suicidal behavior and has direct
relevance for prevention. Additionally
family and friends need additional support due to the stress of the individual’s
suicidal feelings and/or attempt. It has
been shown that prevention and recovery should be person centered and peer
support offers one opportunity to do so.
Early intervention by peers and professionals working in parallel is
another powerful prevention tool.
Research and delivery method
development offer other opportunities for joint work to enhance the results. Differences of survivors of suicide attempts
by gender, race, national origin, sexual orientation, geography and community
is a critical area for research. Development
of protocols for addressing safety and crisis planning should be based on principles of
informed and collaborative care.
Dovetailing suicide prevention methods with treatment of post traumatic
stress disorder is being shown to improve results given the high number of
suicide attempt victims with PTSD. Creation
and promotion of crisis respite care centers, appears to benefit significantly
from the employment of peer providers.
Training peer specialists to assist in the delivery of emergency crisis
centers improves the services.
There are a number of good resources in the
area. A few of them include:
Let’s bring together the suicide prevention advocates,
clinicians, researchers and people with lived experience with suicidal thoughts
and behavior because “together, we’re better!”
*****
About the Authors:
As a psychologist, mental health advocate, and survivor of her brother’s
suicide, Sally Spencer-Thomas sees suicide prevention, intervention and
postvention from many perspectives. She is
currently the CEO and Co-Founder for the Carson J Spencer Foundation (www.CarsonJSpencer.org)
and the Survivor of Loss Division Director for the American Association of
Suicidology. Sally@CarsonJSpencer.org
Paul
Henrion is a DBSA group facilitator at Samaritan House, a Catholic Charities
homeless shelter. His group has included
numerous individuals who have attempted or are contemplating suicide. paulhenrion@hotmail.com
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