The 'S' Word
- Scott
- Apr 3
- 3 min read
Content warning - In this post I talk about Suicide First Aid training and a bit about how we talk about suicide in the 21st century. If it’s not for you, that’s okay. If you are in crisis yourself, I include numbers to crisis support at the end of the post.
A few weeks ago I was lucky enough to complete an ASIST workshop with SAMH and LGBT Youth Scotland. If you’re not familiar with that, it’s basically Suicide First Aid; equipping you with the skills and training to be able to intervene when someone, whether you know them or not, is suicidal.
If you were to spot someone on a bridge and call the police, it would be an ASIST certified person who would come and help.
As a counsellor I was familiar with assessing risk and developing safety plans, but the middle part, negotiating with someone in crisis and getting them to safety was something I really wanted to develop and build my confidence.
It really had me reflecting on how we talk about suicide in general these days, how things have improved and where there’s still work to do.
1 in 20 people have thought about suicide, and that’s even higher in marginalised groups. Over half of trans people in a recent Stonewall study* had thought about taking their own life in the previous year. (*LGBT in Scotland - Health report 2018).
In counselling, where we’re helping people who are very anxious or depressed, it can naturally come up. With my own clients I always do a Core 10 assessment at the start of every session as a bit of a temperature check of how the client is today and how their week has gone. One of the assessment questions directly asks about suicide. Where it’s anything other than a “no”/“0” it’s important for the counsellor to explore that, assess risk and make sure that the client is safe (bringing in assistance where necessary).
In the wider world, we’ve moved away from talking about people having “committed” suicide as that kind of language is a bit of a relic of the historical religious view of suicide being a sin. Died from suicide is how we typically refer to it in the media, and that seems pretty established at this point.
But talking about suicide itself and talking about feeling suicidal is still something that’s a bit of a taboo subject and causes a lot of anxiety. It’s totally understandable; we’re humans after all. We care about our friends and family and the thought of something happening to them is frightening.
One of the most pervasive myths is that bringing up suicide with someone in crisis is somehow putting the idea in their head. This just isn’t true. What it’s more likely to do is create an opportunity for the person to reach out.
Talking about suicide plainly and without judgement is the first step to helping someone who is suicidal and getting them support. I’ve watched this happen, watched the relief in the persons face, both in training and in private practice and it’s very powerful. I’d love for us to move towards a society where talking about our mental health is more normalised
ASIST has given me a lot more confidence about broaching the subject with people I’m not working with, working it through with them and keeping them safe. If you get the chance, whether you work in healthcare or work in an office, I’d strongly recommend it. The more people out there who are ASIST trained the more of a safety net we create in our communities.
If you would like to talk to me about working on your mental health, you can complete the online submission form or contact me directly at: mckellarCBT@gmail.com
