Friends use hope to fight suicide
Two young women want to spread messages of hope and positivity as a “weapon” against suicide.
New Zealand has one of the highest overall suicides rate in the developed world with more than 600 Kiwis taking their own life in the 2016-17 year.
Church friends Sarah Lee, 28, and Tina Kim, 26 — both Koreans — are launching a “Happy Pull” campaign, distributing stickers with messages such as “push doubt away”, “pull trust in” and “pull in courage”.
Lee said she got the idea during a recent trip back to South Korea, which has the 10th highest suicide rate in the world and highest among OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) member states.
Suicide hit home for Lee when one of her Sunday school students, who is in her early 20s, tried multiple times to end her life.
“Life is a precious gift from God, so I cannot understand how someone with such a promising future can think of ending her own life,” Lee said.
Talking to her student, Lee found the cause was depression, family problems and a lack of hope.
“She was so focused on her problems that she cannot see or feel any positivity around her,” Lee said.
“What shocked me was that this isn’t her first time, and she has tried to take her life several times even when she was a teenager.”
Lee said five people she knows personally have tried to commit suicide.
New Zealand has the highest rate in the OECD for 15- to 19-year-olds.
A Ministry of Health survey found 11.8 per cent of 15- to 24-year-olds are affected by psychological stress and have a “high or very high probability of anxiety or depressive disorder”.
Kim said the stickers would give a “direct reminder” of positivity around them.
“When you are feeling depressed and thinking of ending it all, you need direct reminders that there is hope,” Kim said.
“We hope the stickers will not only bring positivity for those who see them, but also spur them to do positive actions for others.”
The two women are in the process of recruiting people for the campaign, and plan to distribute the stickers to schools, clubs and other places where young people hang out.
“We hope the stickers and messages they hold can be used as a weapon against suicide,” Kim added.
The Government’s draft plan to reduce suicide went out for public consultation last year.
A spokesman said after the formation of the inquiry into mental health and addiction that the plan to develop a cross-government mental health strategy is on hold.
He said the ministry is in the final stages of analysing about 500 submissions received on the draft suicide strategy.
A summary of the submissions and work to date will be given to the inquiry panel.