Last night I attended a public forum at my local RSL club dealing with Suicide Prevention. It was very good. The presenter gave us a lot of very helpful information. He included a history of depression and suicide (the stats only went as far as 1900 or so) in our society and then looked at what was happening in society at the times when the suicide rates were up or down significantly. That was interesting because it really got you thinking about what the pressures are which the world puts on you and how different people react in different ways to those stressors. We also looked at the pressures of living in 2008 in Australia.
We discussed youth suicide.
We learnt to watch for ‘warning signs’ with people and then what to do: how to LISTEN; what sorts of things to say; and what to do about it.
There were about 18 people there. The presenter thought that was really quite good. I thought it wasn’t! If I had known ahead of time then I could have brought 18 people myself! Oh well.
I might suggest to the minister at my church that we get the same organisation to come and do a full Saturday seminar at church. That would be great.
Oh, I nearly forgot – the people who put on the seminar were called LifeForce (Life Force). They were part of the Wesley Mission in Sydney.
But, What is a bloke supposed to do when he reaches a point where the only thing stopping him from putting a gun to his head & pulling the trigger, is not owning one? What, when a man loves his wife dearly but cannot continue his life as it is but cannot change things should he then do? When a mam is getting on in years,is highly intelligent,loves his wife,but is so stressed& depressed that he just doesn’t care about living anymore does he then do? & If you can’t answer this, Do you have a handgun I could borrow?