Campaign to kick off next month

What leads a person to that dark place, where they feel like there is no hope? Sometimes the first step to stop someone from taking their own life would be, to be there for them. This is just what the ‘LIVE- Because it’s worth it’ campaign is focusing on.

The campaign is an initiative taken by Theme Institute, which is a nonprofit organization. It aims at creating awareness on suicide and prevention, across the country. Theme will be coming together with the local music community on September 10 (Saturday) to kick off the campaign with an awareness walk, which will be followed by “Somewhere I Belong”, a Chester Bennington tribute concert at the Viharamahadevi Amphitheatre. The date also coincides with the World Suicide Prevention Day.

We met up with the Director of Theme and Child Psychologist, Giselle Dass, and Aseka Wickramarachchi, research associate of Theme. They gave us an insight into the campaign and its future plans.

It was just last month, when the music world was shocked by the loss of Chester Bennington, the lead vocalist of renowned Rock band Linkin Park. Chester was one of many victims of suicide.

“According to Dr. Duleepa Knipe (Bristol Medical School at the University of Bristol UK), roughly one person dies every three hours, or eight people die every day in Sri Lanka. We estimate that there are 20 attempts for every death which sums up to160 attempts every day,” Gisselle tells us.

She explains the reason behind the organisation wanting to focus on suicide was because they had observed a growing need by the local community to understand what one should or shouldn’t do about suicide. “The point which we wanted to focus on is that people think mental health problems and issues like suicide should be handled by professionals. And that you or I as a friend, a colleague or just a citizen can’t do anything about it.” She firmly held that this is a misconception.

According to Giselle, there is also a school of thought which feels that talking to someone who is depressed, would only push them more towards committing suicide. This is a misunderstanding too she says.

“Research has shown that if you talk to them, this lessens the burden to a certain extent. That’s what we want to get across to people. It’s that idea that you don’t have to move away, that you don’t have to wait for professional help but you can actually do something at that initial stage to support.”

Giselle maintains that being a good listener plays a crucial role here. You could even just be there as a friend and that could help to a great extent. Sometimes when it comes to seeking professional help most people can’t afford it, while some people simply don’t seek out help for fear of the stigma which may be attached to it. ‘LIVE’ focuses on getting people to be that first line of support, before you go to get a professional’s help. The funds raised from ‘Somewhere I Belong’, will be directed towards the ‘LIVE’ Outreach awareness campaign, which will reach out to the nine provinces in the country.

The idea is to conduct a series of awareness programmes in schools and communities. These will focus on the things you could do as the first line of help, which include identifying the warning signs, providing support and for individuals to show more empathy towards somebody who’s feeling down.

The organization also looks to conduct a ‘gatekeeper training programme,’ which will involve the schools and communities sending in a representative, who will be trained in active listening, empathetic understanding. “So you act as the gatekeeper for your organization, school or community and people could approach you if they don’t want to go to a professional.”

Ticket prices for the concert will be announced in due course.