World Suicide Prevention Day is held each year on 10 September. It’s an annual awareness raising event organised by International Association for Suicide Prevention (IASP) and the World Health Organisation (WHO).
This year’s theme is about understanding the impact that reaching out to people at risk can have in preventing suicide, and ultimately saving lives.
Statistics into Suicide
- The greatest cause of death in men under 35 is Suicide
- Every year, over 800,000 people die from suicide; this roughly corresponds to one death every 40 seconds.
- The number of lives lost each year due to suicide exceeds the number of deaths due to homicide and war combined.
- Suicide is the 15th leading cause of death globally, accounting for 1.4% of all deaths in 2012.
- It is estimated that during 2012 for each adult who died of suicide there were over 20 others who made suicide attempts.
- The strongest risk factor for suicide is a previous suicide attempt.
Statistics courtesy of International Association for Suicide Prevention (IASP) & Mind. What Can you Do? Start a conversation today if you think a friend, colleague or family member may be struggling. You can also join us on Twitter to spread the word and ask the question #RUOK?
“When a person reaches a point where they are focused on taking their life, they’ve often lost sight of trying to find a way through their problems. This period usually only lasts a short while and often it doesn’t take a huge amount to bring someone back from that decision – something as simple as asking, ‘are you ok?’ can be enough to move someone out of suicidal crisis.”
Source : Samaritans & RUOK
“Nothing beats face-to-face time; time with each other, time with family, time with friends.”
Reaching out to those who may be struggling or may have become disconnected from others and offering support can be a life-saving act. Reaching out involves active listening and engaging with a person in a non-judgemental and supportive way. An important aspect of reaching out also involves linking people to relevant professional services to ensure appropriate care and follow-up for that person.
There are some great organisations, who can provide support, advice and further guidance. The Samaritans and Mind are two organisations who can support locally.