Cardinia suicide watch

– Melissa Grant
CONCERNS about the number of suicides in Cardinia’s regional areas over the past six months have prompted the head of Lifeline Gippsland to speak out about what is often a taboo subject.
Without going into details about specific cases, Lifeline Gippsland chief executive Patricia Nalder said it was important to raise awareness about the issue and to inform people about the support available.
“Suicide is an issue that everyone needs to talk about,” she said.
“It’s time we got it into the public arena.
“More people die from suicide every day in Australia than in vehicle accidents. That gets a lot of publicity but there are more people struggling with losing a loved one from suicide.”
Ms Nalder said it was important to remind people where to get help after recent cases in Cardinia’s rural areas and media attention on the suicides of young people in the Geelong/Barwon region.
“It can be frightening finding out that someone you know or care about is thinking about suicide, but it is important to obtain as much information as possible,” she said.
“Something has to be done – if they don’t receive help today they might do it tomorrow … saying things like, ‘You’ll get over it’, that just doesn’t work.”
Ms Nalder said people should be concerned if someone close to them said things such as “life’s not worth living” or “life is too hard and I don’t want to go on”.
She said there were also other signs that someone was thinking about self-harm.
“In some cases it’s giving away possessions or them becoming suddenly happier because they feel they’ve resolved their issues,” she said.
Ms Nalder said it was important for people to seek help as soon as possible if they felt a loved one was at risk.
“Talking about and helping someone at risk of suicide is often stressful, so arrange to have some additional support,” she said.
“You can ring Lifeline and speak to a counsellor about what you can do next.
“Other people to talk to could be the person’s doctor, mental health worker, school or community counsellor, or community services.
Ms Nalder said a range of information was also available to those supporting someone in danger or to those who had been bereaved by suicide.
Lifeline Gippsland also provides a Suicide Crisis Support program for people at risk of suicide. It involves the person having one-on-one telephone counselling with a specially trained Lifeline counsellor for up to eight weeks.
For information packs, or to find out more about the program, call the Lifeline Gippsland office on 5136 3500.
If you or someone you know may be at risk of suicide call Lifeline on 13 11 14.