The Henry Ford Clinic in Detroit embarked on a programme in 2001 to reduce the incidence of suicide to zero. Rates started to decline and the clinic reports zero rates for the past two years.
The Mersey Care NHS Trust are to pilot this project. In England one death every two hours is due to suicide and ten times that attempt suicide. 75% are men. Rates rise with age. 4700 suicides occur each year in England and figures are rising. Mental health clinicians are clambering for change but in the face of financial difficulties in the NHS the challenges are enormous.
Dr David Fearnley of the Mersey Care Trust head of the project reported on Radio 4 this morning that ‘if the pilot project is successful 2 years we can start to make inroads. It is about redesigning the services, changing the way we approach systems, evaluating evidence. The programme will retrain professionals to spot the signs, educate families to look out for signs, helping GPs to feel confident to ask questions.’
http://www.henryford.com/body.cfm?id=46335&action=detail&ref=1104
http://mentalhealthpartnerships.com/category/what-works/other/suicide-prevention/
Suicide is often a temporary state of mind.
I have personal experience within my family and network of suicide attempts and first hand experience of our care services has left me with the feeling that inadequate support and help is available. The people who have suffered in my personal world have been plied with prescriptions for prozac and been left on waiting lists for ‘talk therapy’ for months on end; never once receiving a friendly call from their GP to ask how they are feeling; left in the cold to battle their suicidal thoughts. Its a disgrace. There should be a common sense approach and maybe this new project will begin to change attitudes.
In 2012 ‘U Can Cope’ was a film which helped people to overcome suicidal thoughts. Take a look.
Disclaimer: I am not a mental health expert but do have personal knowledge.