Transcript Holding On To Life Pilot Data

Suicide: How to Help
UAW-GM Work Family Representatives
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Speaking the Language
Why do we need to know the language of suicide?
 Be able to recognize a need for help.
 Get comfortable with speaking the uncomfortable.
 Early identification and intervention can help avoid a crisis.
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(good for the Individual and UAW-GM)
Relationship building with employees.
Increase Connectedness; A Protective Factor.
Reduce Stigma.
Have a skillset that can save lives at best, and allow for help
seeking behaviors at the least.
US Homeland Security
Customs and Border Patrol
 On the southern border of the US, the agents that are
working border entrances, and those who patrol in
between are required to be fluent in Spanish.
 They do this for their own safety, and for the safety of the
people who they are encountering.
I get it.
Its like a foreign language
henson.com/sesamestreet.php
How do we get more
comfortable speaking with a
suicidal person?
Understanding:
Lets Look at the Facts
 According to the CDC, the rate of suicide has gone up 24% in the
last 15 years. We are at the highest rate since the 1980s.
 10th Leading Cause of Death in the US (Homicide is 17th).
 42,000+ deaths per year.
 117 people die from suicide every day.
 One person every 12 minutes die from suicide.
 Its estimated that every 30 seconds, someone in the U.S. is
attempting suicide.
 With each death 147 people are exposed to suicide, and 18 of
those experience a major life disruption.
 The sharpest suicidal rate in the last 10 years have been males
45-65 years of age.
http://www.suicidology.org/Portals/14/docs/Resources/FactSheets/2014/2014datapgsv1b.pdf
OK, What is Suicide?
• Suicide is the sometimes fatal end result
of the diseases of:
 Anxiety
 Depression
 ……. others
Lets start with us!
Suicide: The Individual Perspective
 Do people have the right to kill themselves?
 What’s your worst fear about working with a suicidal
person (other than that they might die?)
 Have you, or anyone you know personally, felt suicidal,
attempted or died from suicide?
 Should all firearms be removed from a home in the
case of a depressed or suicidal person?
Suicide: The Individual Perspective
Why does this matter?
Our ability to understand our own feelings on
these topics can help us to better navigate a
potentially difficult conversation with the person
we are trying to help.
Why might someone want to
take their own life?
We must begin with the premise that a suicidal person
does not actually want to die, they are trying to find a
way to make the pain they are experiencing stop.
… they often feel they’ve tried or thought of
everything else and are feeling hopeless, believing
that things will never get better.
What it might sound like:
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“My life sucks.”
“I hate my life.”
“I could just kill myself.”
“This will all be over soon.”
“I just can’t take this any more.”
“I wish I were dead.”
“I need to find a gun, pills, etc.”
“I just don’t care anymore.”
“It doesn’t matter anymore.”
“It will all be better soon.”
What might be going on in
their life?
People who feel suicidal are typically facing more than one
problem or situation in their life.
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Depression, anxiety, schizophrenia and other mental health issues.
Drug and alcohol problems.
Impulsiveness and aggressiveness.
Parental psychopathology.
No sense of purpose in life.
Being bullied or bullying others (school, text, phone, or social media).
Recent losses or setbacks (moving, job loss or change, medical
condition, relationship breakup, divorce, death of someone they love –
even a celebrity).
Questioning sexual orientation or being labeled gay, lesbian, bi-sexual,
or transgendered).
History of trauma or abuse (injury or medical problem, sexual
abuse/assault, victim of violence, legal problems).
Legal Problems
Other Risk Factors
 Previous attempts.
 Easy access to lethal means.
 Eating disorders.
 Withdrawal from family, close friends, activities they love.
 Feeling as if they are a burden or that people will be better off without them.
 Worrying and stressing over everything.
 Talking or joking about suicide.
 Giving away possessions.
 Drawing or writing about death.
 Feeling hopeless…probably the most common feeling/thought.
 Looking for or talking about ways to die.
 Isolating themselves.
How do we help someone who may be
at risk for suicide?
We recognized the language.
Now we need to use our skills to get real with this
conversation.
Here’s a simple formula to get you through this:
ASK, LISTEN, REFER
Ask, Listen and Refer
 Ask if the person is feeling suicidal, having thoughts of
suicide or thinking about hurting or killing themselves.
 Listen to what they have to say, you’re listening to the
language of suicide.
 Refer them to the help and resources they need.
Now What Do I Say?
 “I can hear you are really hurting.”
 “On a scale of 1-10, how suicidal are you feeling?”
 “Have you thought of how you’d kill yourself?”
 “Do you have a plan?”
 Do they have the means?
 Be direct, ...we need to know.
What NOT to say? EVER!
 “You don’t really mean that.”
 “We’re not going to talk about you going to be with your
late husband.”
 “If you were really suicidal, you’d stop talking about it
and do something about it.”
 “That would be a stupid thing to do.”
 “Did you really think an overdose of Tylenol would kill
you, be serious? If you really meant it you would have
used something more lethal like a gun.”
Important Information to Help.
 You will get more comfortable, the more you ask.
 Again, its about having the pain end; not about wanting
to die.
A person struggling with much of life’s pain can’t see
many answers to their problems. Pain narrows our
perspective
 Its helpful to remember that understanding “why” can
get us to recognize the language, but…
It’s not just why……
Most people who have attempted suicide have considered it for
some time. They typically face multiple problems—some long
term, some short term.
However, the moments when they take action are often during
a brief period of heightened vulnerability.
One of the most powerful risk factors for suicide deaths is the
ready availability of highly lethal methods. In the U.S., that
means guns.
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http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/means-matter/files/MeansMatter_Brochure.pdf
It’s also when…..
Among people who nearly died in a suicide attempt,
24% said less than 5 minutes elapsed between
deciding on suicide and making the attempt.
Another 47% said under an hour.
1/3 of all youths who died by suicide had faced a
crisis within the past 24 hours.
http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/means-matter/basic-suicide-facts/when/index.html
…..and how
We now understand that how a person
attempts suicide can play a critical role in
whether….. they live or die.
Data on ‘How’
U.S. 2014:
• Firearms
• All Others
• Suffocation/hanging
• Cut/Pierce
• Drowning
• Other
21,334
21,439
49%
51%
http://suicidology.org/c/document_library/get_file?folderId=232&name=DLFE-232.pdf
Means Restriction Education
 Ask about guns in the home. Discuss the need to
remove them for safety. Involve family, if needed, to
remove firearms.
 Discuss ideas for removal.
 If there is a planned method, limit access to the plan.
(e.g. overdose, bleach, knives).
 Reduce overall medications in the home.
A Gentle Handoff
If someone trusts you enough to vulnerably tell you that
they are feeling suicidal, honor that trust.
Once you have referred them to the appropriate resource,
ask if there is anything more you can help with right now.
When you see them back to work, make sure you check
in with them. Ask:
 “How are you doing?”
 “Did the referrals help?”
 “Is whatever you are doing helpful?”
 “Sometimes it takes a while to feel better.”
Follow-up contact
Ideas that might be really helpful:
 Contact the employee following the referral for a
suicidal crisis, especially if they reached out to you
for help.
 Send a note of well wishes or “Thinking of You.”
 If an employee reports concerns for a fellow
member, follow up with them too.
• Let them know protocols were followed and that
help is being provided.
• See how THEY are doing with the situation
What happens with a mental
health referral?
In the case of someone who maybe actively suicidal, it’s typical that
they go to an Emergency Department (ED).
 The ED visit or Inpatient stay can result in an increased risk for
suicide.
Multiple Medications and multiple hospitalizations.
• 42,000 suicides per year…it’s going in the wrong direction:
Medical Hospitalization vs. Psych Hospitalization
Outpatient Treatment
 Many outpatient providers are not well trained in treating a
suicidal patient. Finding a counselor who knows how to do this
will go a long way in increasing a successful outcome.
Suicide Prevention is Everybody’s Business
What do we accomplish by knowing the language of suicide?
 Better able to recognize a need for help.
 With practice, like role plays, we can get comfortable with speaking to the
uncomfortable.
 Early identification and intervention can help to avoid a crisis.
 Good for the employee and UAW-GM.
 The cost savings merits the time and money it would take to be more
fluent in speaking about suicide and other mental health issues.
 Relationship building with employees.
 People who feel valued report to work more consistently and are more
productive.
 Increase Connectedness; A Protective Factor.
 The UAW-GM is a membership, lets use this to its fullest advantage.
 Reduce Stigma.
 Have a skillset that can save lives at best, and allow help in seeking
behaviors at the least.
 Be at the leading edge in terms of reducing suicides for the United
States’ working class.