UWI lecturer Linda Hadeed knows two teenagers who committed suicide last year. After seeing the trauma suffered by their families, she decided more must be done to prevent suicides among young people. So she worked with UWI's Faculty of Social Sciences to stage a three-day seminar/workshop on the issue.
The seminar titled Breaking the Silence: Building Effective Responses for Adolescent Suicide Prevention, ran from November 20-22 at the Lounge, UWI. Invited were professionals (those in the clinical field) teachers and parents. Each group were specially sponsored by the Ministry of Education, Smile for George Foundation, the Syrian-Lebanese Women Association and Republic Bank.
The sessions' facilitator was Michael McFarland from the Suicide Resources Prevention Centre in Boston. Originally from Florida, he has extensive training in the field-working with clinical and community suicide prevention programmes.
McFarland said suicide among adolescents was a global issue and each year statistics show these deaths are increasing. He said when he was contacted by Hadeed, he was happy to know that steps were being made in the country to prevent suicide among adolescents.
The programme was tailored to suit each group but all learned how to identify, cope and treat with potential suicide victims. Some of the topics discussed included myths and facts about suicide, the scope of the problem and the current state of clinical competency, general treatment targets, recognising the risk factors and warning signs, responding to students at risk and active listening.
Each group also participated in role play to put into practice what they have learned. Asked what were some of the reasons for the extreme action, McFarland said a lot of the issues stem from primary events; relationship losses, difficulty at school, conflict in the home and self-esteem problems among other things.
"A person commits suicide not because they woke up and decided one day they are just going to take their lives. It is usually a case of them believing no one can understand their situation and there is no help available," explained McFarland.
He said the first point of contact are parents which is why it is imperative that they know how to communicate with their children, should they recognise any signs. Then there are the teachers who must be aware of the changes in their students. Once it is established that the teen is exhibiting signs of wanting to commit suicide, it is time for those in the clinical field to take over-finding out the root of the problem and administering appropriate treatment.
Hadeed said the seminar will not be a one-off and is certain there will be a phase two, especially after seeing the level of participation over the three days. "The most important thing we saw here was the significant level of interest by participants and that told us people really want information on this topic and are ready to do the necessary work to prevent suicide from visiting their homes or communities.
"Statistics are important, but we no longer want to be looking at statistics only. We want the public to know that there is help out there and things are being put in place to prevent further suicides in T&T especially among the adolescent population," Hadeed said.
She said her team will be setting up a strong data base which will provide the public with information on suicide prevention and where they can get help.
For more info about upcoming suicide prevention seminars, e-mail linda.hadeed@sta.uwi.edu
What to look for
The Ministry of Health released figures in September which showed there was a significant increase in the number of reported suicides with an average of 1,000 admissions annually related to self-harm or suicide at each Regional Health Authority (RHA).
Dr Varma Deyalsingh, secretary of the Association of Psychiatrists recently gave the T&T Guardian some advice on dealing with suicidal young people. He said the first thing family and friends should pay attention to is significant changes
in the potential suicide victim's behaviour.
"You can look for general loss of interest for pleasure, change in appetite (eating less or more), withdrawal or over-hyped behaviour, becoming suddenly cheerful after a period of depression, someone who is usually loud becomes an introvert and vice versa.
"Their sleep patterns may change, they may begin vocalising negative statements such as 'life is not worth living' or it was nice knowing you.'"
He said another warning sign might be their sudden urge to give away things they valued or held dear. He said young people who talk about suicide have a greater risk of attempting it in the future if they haven't already.