Get the right tools to help
A CO-ORDINATOR for a statewide suicide intervention training organisation is encouraging more people to attend a vital workshop, in the hope the training will be seen in the same light as first-aid or workplace health and safety training.
Community Response to Eliminating Suicide (CORES) Queensland co-ordinator Ross Romeo knows first-hand what it is like to lose a friend to suicide.
So far the organisation he co-ordinates has trained close to 4000 people on suicide intervention, a number he says is a drop in the bucket.
“It would be a dream of myself and for anyone who runs any kind of suicide prevention training for it to be viewed the same as workplace health and safety, where people are encouraged to do it because there is a good chance they are going to run into it somewhere along the line,” Mr Romeo said.
He said checking in with your mates was a great first step, but people should consider taking part in some training “in case that mate that you check on says ‘no I am not OK’”.
“It’s been a matter of getting people comfortable enough to actually go up and ask their friend if they’re OK – that’s a big step – so it just makes sense that just in case your mate says ‘no I am not’ you need to have a few tips on what to do,” Mr Romeo said. “A big thing is people are quite good at saying they are OK but the way they are behaving and their body language isn’t portraying what they are saying, so that is one of the first keys.
“Take note of their recent history because what people will do, once they get under too much pressure, is stop doing the things they like to do and that’s where the problems really start. If something isn’t done about it for a long time that’s when it can develop into a mental illness – but it always starts with how they are feeling.”
Mr Romeo said paying attention to a friend, listening to what they are saying, taking note of how they are saying it as well as changes in their body language, personal appearance, sleeping, eating and social habits was a really good first step in the process of helping someone.
“If you notice something’s not right and a friend is saying ‘ I’m fine’ there is nothing wrong with saying ‘well I have been watching you for a while, you are starting to worry me with the way you are behaving’ and then knowing what conversation to have after that and then how to link them in with people who can help them,” he said.
“You are not there to solve their problems, you are there to create the environment for change for them.”
Mr Romeo said as a community it was time for people to stop saying “men don’t talk”. “If we as a community keep saying ‘ men don’t talk’ then we are conditioning half of our population to believe that and that’s not true,” he said.
>>If you or someone you know needs help contact Lifeline
on 131 114.