After I attended a seminar recently about suicide I had two conversations with workmates the next day on this topic. They had asked what I’d done last night. From there we chatted about depression and suicide. It turned out that the first guy I spoke with had just been in a relationship with a girl who had (a number of times) attempted suicide and had self harmed as well.

The other conversation was with a woman who has had very bad episodes of depression herself. She’s on the same medication as yours truly! I see her differently now. I understand her better.

I think that the stigma is still very real. We just don’t talk about the issues. I’m glad we did.

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.

It aims to equip people with the basic skills that are useful for identifying people at risk and then for approaching them and communicating with them (especially about LISTENING I would think).

I wish I’d told people at church about it – it would be really good to have a strong church presence at this type of event.

per cent show symptoms of acute anxiety, new figures reveal.

An alarming number of year 12 students are breaking down in psychological distress in their final year of

school as they prepare to sit their final exams, News Limited reports.

More than 11 per cent of year 12 boys are seriously anxious, 18.3 per cent are stressed and 15 per cent

acknowledge they are depressed, new research by Flinders University School of Psychology shows.

Students exhibit a range of symptoms such as awareness of their heart activity when at rest, trembling

hands, panic, lack of motivation and even feeling that their life is meaningless.

Researchers have separated out the impact of exams on students’ psychological health.

More than 53 per cent of male students and more than 60 per cent of female students attribute most of their stress to final year exams.

Dr Julie Robinson from the Flinders School of Psychology said researchers found a `significant number of

boys and girls” had levels of stress, anxiety and depression – far more in the HSC year than in year 11.

“These are alarming numbers… some young people have six times the range of clinical stress that you

would expect,” she said.

 
By Jane Metlikovec and Annalise Walliker
May 31, 2008 01:34am

One teen suicides every four days
Experts say real rate is higher
Males dominate shock figures

EVERY four days one Australian teenager commits suicide.

Figures supplied exclusively to the Herald Sun from the National Coroners’ Information System detail the shocking rate.

From 2001 to 2005, 423 under-19s killed themselves.

Almost 100 Victorians are among those, and two-thirds of them were male.

But Suicide Prevention Australia chairman Michael Dudley said the flawed way deaths were determined meant the real figure was far higher.

“Conservatively, suicides are under-reported by 13 to 15 per cent,” he said.

Suicides were often hidden in car accident, overdose and undetermined-death figures, Dr Dudley said.

“Coroners are not required to make a judgment on the intent and many choose not to make a call, especially in sensitive cases or to avoid stigma,” he said.

Headspace CEO Chris Tanti said even one youth suicide a year was unacceptable. “When it’s a suicide every four days, it’s clear we have a lot of work to do in young people’s mental health,” he said.

Young men were more likely to take their lives because they were less likely to seek help, Dr Tanti said.

Psychologist Dr Michael Carr-Gregg said the figures showed a dire need for compulsory mental health education in schools.

“The most common cause of suicide is mental illness, and the most common form of that is depression,” he said.

Mandatory mental health lessons in schools would help children recognise problems and seek help, he said.

“Not all kids would know you can go see a GP and get a referral to see a psychologist under Medicare,” Dr Carr-Gregg said.

The number of youth suicides dropped slightly between 2001 and 2005. In 2001, 94 young people including 22 Victorians took their lives. In 2005, it was 74 (17).

But that reduction is little comfort to Tony Gee, whose daughter Nellie was one of the 17 young Victorian suicides three years ago.

A talented ice hockey player, Nellie had battled depression, the separation of her parents, and school and relationship troubles.

Mr Gee, from Camberwell, said: “I wouldn’t want anyone to go through the devastation we had to go through, or what Nellie went through either.”

Mr Gee is a member of Compassionate Friends, a support group for bereaved parents, and has set up the Life Is . . . Foundation for people with family breakdowns.

ANYONE experiencing personal problems can call Kids Help Line on 1800 551 800.

May 21, 2008 04:59pm