Tuesday 10 September marked the 11th anniversary of the World Suicide Prevention Day. Hundreds of activities took place all around the globe to commemorate the day.
The Euregenas project honoured the occasion by launching a Save the Date invite to its Stakeholder conference to be held on 21 January 2014 in Brussels. The aim of this conference is to inform stakeholders about Euregenas and its objectives and to involve stakeholders in the process of reviewing the preliminary results of the project. For this purpose, local and regional authorities, European institutions and other selected stakeholders will be invited to attend to the conference.
Between the 24th and 28th of September 2013, Euregenas partner Ghent University participated in the XVII World Congress of the International Association for Suicide Prevention, organised by the National Centre for Suicide Research and and Prevention at the University of Oslo (Norway). An oral presentation and two poster presentations aimed to raise awareness on the Euregenas project and to disseminate the ethical guidelines for technology-based suicide prevention programmes. The project and the ethical guidelines generated a lot of interest and positive feedback from participants.
In Euregenas partner countries a number of activities were recorded.
In Flanders (Belgium) a book launch took place in Leuven. The book ”Suicide and Suicide Prevention among the Elderly" (in Flemish/Dutch), providing comprehensive information for professionals working with suicidal elderly as well for the social network of elderly people was published with the support of the Suicide Prevention Programme of the Mental Health Centres by editors Karl Andriessen and Anke Bonnewyn (KU Leuven - University of Leuven).
The Andalusian Federation RAINBOW (LGBT) spread the project �?Trevor” and the poster �?On word yours” to prevent suicide. The association proposed educational prevention materials for schools. The TREVOR project is based on the eponymous short film that won an Oscar in 1995. The film, directed by Peggy Rajski, presents the story of a 13 years old adolescent, who attempted suicide after being rejected by his friends because of his sexuality.
TREVOR
To mark the WSPD, the Hope Phone published a press release which has been echoed by numerous media (print, audiovisual and online). The Spanish political party "Progress Union and Democracy" (UPyD) was the driver of a single central government initiative to develop a suicide prevention plan. The Congress of Deputies unanimously approved this initiative in 2012. In this press release UPyD criticizes the government for not having taken any steps to implement this plan yet.
The premiere of the short film �?Survivors” was held in conjunction with WSPD 2013. The film is a documentary in which the voices of relatives of people who died by suicide and those who failed in their attempt to take their life aims to combat the stigma and taboo that still surrounds suicide. An intimate view of those affected and a commitment to prevention policies.
"A tragedy isn’t it? Suddenly you hear your mother and sister crying, and you wonder what's going on, what's happening? Begins a feeling of reproach, problems, incomprehension, debts, guilt and shame"
September also saw the launch of a book written by a survivor. Piedad Bonnett, a university lecturer and writer from Colombia, talks about the suicide of her son in this book with the title �?Lo que no tiene nombre” (free translated: �?What has no name”). This book deals with the taboo related to suicide and creates a dialogue full of questions. More information can be found in the El Pays article.
On the World Suicide Prevention Day, the 10 th of september, a radio interview with Beatriz Becerra was aired. The interview focused on Becerra's book: �?La estirpe de los niños infelices” (freely translated: �?The breed of the unhappy children”). She talks about the problems, and the doubts, generated by informing and talking openly about suicide.
In Dresden, (Germany) the 41st Autumn Meeting of the German Society for Suicide Prevention "Suicidality in the context of mental illness - Integration of suicide prevention measures in clinic, practice and society" was hosted by the AG Suicide Research, Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University Hospital Dresden in cooperation with Clinic for Psychiatry and Psychotherapy of the Hospital Dresden Neustadt psycho-social crisis service the city of Dresden. The theme of this conference relates to the latest findings about the relationship between mental illness and the emergence of suicidality, but also the possibilities of prevention of suicidal behaviour. Studies have shown that over 90 % of people suffer who attempt suicide or commit suicide, suffer from a mental illness. For this reason, the meeting focused on disseminating knowledge about mental illness and on measures to prevent suicidal acts. The programme of the meeting can be downloaded here (German).
In Rome, the WSPD was celebrated at Sant'Andrea Hospital with a regional launch event and a conference of experts. More than 300 people took part in the event which brought together organisations devoted to providing help in the community, including people involved in helplines, religious charities, survivors groups as well as those grouping family members of psychiatric patients. Politicians were also present, thanks to the increasing interest in developing a National Suicide Prevention Strategy especially targeting young people. Rome also hosted the fourth edition of the Race for Life, an event which supports suicide prevention using the language of sport. A Facebook page was created "Giornata Mondiale per la Prevenzione del Suicidio" as well as a website www.giornataprevenzionesuicidio.it to provide information about the event. For more information on the Italian activities for the WSPD, please visit the website.
In Stockholm, the day started with a breakfast seminar with the theme "Should the word suicide appear in newspaper’s headlines?" followed by a meeting presenting current research and guidelines, organised by the Centre for Psychiatric Research. The 9th Suicide Prevention Conference took place on 16-17 September 2013 in Stockholm, organized by the National Centre for Suicide Research and Prevention of Mental lll-Health (NASP). Practitioners, policy makers, researchers and the public, as well as members of the six regional suicide prevention networks took part in lectures, workshops and poster exhibitions during the conference. More information about the recent suicide research and conferences can be found in the research library with the latest important research in suicide and suicide prevention at NASP.
In Gothenburg (Västra Götaland, Sweden), the Network for Church-Suicide Prevention organized a theme day with various events around the city. The WSPD was marked by a workshop gathering researchers and practitioners on 19 September in the outskirts of Gothenburg. The purpose of the seminar was to bring together researchers and practitioners for a full day to discuss the positive trend in reduced number of suicides happened in the 80 - and 90's now stagnated. Something that seems to reduce the risk of suicide is human encounters. How important are schools, health care and society in it? Centre for Culture and Health and Jonsered Manor at Gothenburg University, jopintly hosted the seminar.
In Romania, the Alliance Anti-Suicide Cluj-Napoca, Romanian Alliance for Suicide Prevention, Suicidology Association, Organization "Cry for Help" Miercurea-Ciuc, Romanian League for Mental Health, Romanian Alzheimer Society organized on 10 Septembera conference focusing on crisis intervention in Cluj Napoca. The National Suicide Prevention Green Hotline (free of charge from all the telephone networks) was launched on the occasion. The conference covered topics like augmentation therapy with Seroquel XR, the suicidal bahaviour and the psychiatric pathology, multimodal and integrative behavioral therapy in suicide, the role of the psychologist in suicide prevention, psychotherapy for people with suicidal risk, addictions and suicidal behavior. During the conference case studies have been introduced for illustrating the assessment of a person with suicidal risk, and also the results of SEYLE and WE-STAY European funded projects have been presented.For more information please click here.
The General Directorate of Social Assistance of Bucharest, in partnership with the Suicidology Association and the Centre for prevention of Suicide Attempts among Children and Adolescents within the Psychiatric Hospital "Prof. Dr. Al. Obregia" have organized on the 10th of September an event to mark the World Suicide Prevention Day in Bucharest. Leaflets and brochures have been distributed to promote the hotline for prevention of suicide attempts among children and adolescents and also to raise awareness among people on the regarding vital warning signs. Also, other activities have been undertaken to commemorate the loss of friends or family members who commited suicide. From the organizers point of view, the aim of the event has been to address people from the community the importance of engaging in activities for suicide prevention. The above mentioned institution manage the emergency hotline 116 123 for the prevention of suicide attempts among children and adolescents. To see the announcement of the event click here.
In England, more specifically in the region of Euregenas’ new associated partner, Cumbria County Council, a conference was hosted on 12 September to discuss an update of the 2009 multi-agency strategy for the county. During workshops, conference participants provided feedback about the future priorities for suicide prevention work in Cumbria. The event has been organised by Cumbria County Council, Carlisle and Eden MIND and the University of Cumbria.
The International Association for Suicide Prevention documented a number of activities on its website.