English

33rd group of Two Days Suicide Prevention Facilitation Training

• Gaun Sahar Reporter
• 10 Feb, Sunday, 2019 | 18:47:00 Published

Kathmandu : The School of Psychology Nepal (TSOP Nepal) in collaboration with Psychdesk Foundation conducted 33rd group of Two Days Suicide Prevention Facilitation Training.

The training which started on 9th of February ended today with the certificate distribution to the participants by Dr. Narendra Singh Thagunna, The President of TSOP Nepal. With the aim of promoting the mental health wellbeing through Suicide Prevention, in the multicultural community level through awareness, this training was provided to 14 qualified candidates involved in the psychosocial works.

The Participants are responsible to conduct the Suicide Prevention Awareness Programme in the targeted community level, under the supervision of Professionals. The training was facilitated by Dr. Narendra Singh Thagunna and Mrs. Jyotshna Dangi.

The training covered detailed background of suicide, its prevalence, causes, symptoms protecting and risk factors, assessment and treatment. It also contained contents on grief, loss and mourning along with the tools and activities. As the training was designed to produce facilitators for the Suicide Prevention Awareness Programme in multicultural Setting, participants were also given ideas Facilitation Skills and Referral.

As part of the Prevention of the Suicide, the roles of Teachers, families and Friends were discussed in details as following:

As Teacher has an important role to play. They have day-to-day contact with many young people, some of whom have problems that could result in suicide. Teachers therefore should be able to observe students’ behaviour and act when they suspect a student may be at risk of self-harm. Role of teachers to prevent Teen Suicide could be as follows:

• Identify students who may be at risk for suicide
• Actively listen to the student's problems
• Respond to students who may be at risk for suicide
• Be prepared to respond to suicidal risks.
• Referral to the professional in case the suicidal risk is severe.
• Consider becoming involved in school wide suicide prevention.

Parents can help protect their children from suicide risk by:

• Maintaining a supportive and involved relationship with their sons and daughters
• Understanding the warning signs and risk factors for suicide
• Knowing where to turn for help

Peers can help in the following ways to protect friend from suicide risks (Following SAVE Method):

 S: Signs of Suicidal Thinking – Look for signs. Peers who are considering suicide often show signs of depression, anxiety, low self-esteem, and/or hopelessness. 

A: Ask the Question: “Are you thinking about killing yourself?” 

V: Validate the Peers Experience - Talk openly about suicide. Be willing to listen and allow the peer to express his or her feelings. Do not pass judgment. 

E: Expedite Getting Help - Reassure the peer that help is available. Do not leave him or her alone. Immediately contact the Suicide Prevention Coordinators and escort the peer to professional help.

According to MoHA, 5346 individuals lost their life by suicide in the fiscal year 2074/75. In the last 5 years, the number of death by suicide has totalled 22,607 which shows, the rate of suicidal death has been increased by 25%. As it has become one of the major global public health concerns, UN has included under its Sustainable Development goal.

The Sustainable Goal 3 states to ensure healthy life and promote wellbeing to all ages under Good Health and Wellbeing. It further targets to reduce one third premature mortality from non communicable disease through prevention and treatment and promote mental health and wellbeing by 2030AD. Considering this target, we believe to make it happen through the action plan.

Hence, we have provided this training to 33 different groups in 24 different districts in Nepal, with 579 participants, who have already conducted more 200 Awareness Programmes. More than 18000 individuals have participated in programme.