REGION REELING AT SAD TOLL
Police act on rise in self-harm rate
SUICIDE rates in the Far North have jumped by a staggering 20 per cent within a year.
Figures obtained from police show a total of 60 people took their own lives in the region during 2017, most of these in Cairns, up from 50 the year before.
The number is almost triple the region’s road toll, which stood at 22 last year.
The rise comes as local police continue to roll out a specialist training program to teach officers how to deal with incidents involving mental health issues.
Senior Sergeant Greg Giles, who is spearheading the crisis intervention training, said about one in every five jobs police were called to was linked to some kind of mental illness, either drug induced or congenital.
He said it was essential officers knew how to deal with these situations to better assist people.
“The biggest thing for us is identifying warning signs, if they can, to deal with people and direct them to appropriate services,” he said.
“It’s all about negotiating and understanding the illness.”
Men aged between 40-45 continue to be the most at-risk group, while Sen-Sgt Giles said there had also been a slight climb in the numbers of older people: those aged over 60.
He said it was impossible to know what had caused the overall increase, which was mirrored by statewide figures where there had been a jump of more than 15 per cent.
Cairns police were the first in the state to implement a coresponder program in conjunction with Queensland Health, where cases involving mental health issues were attended by both a specially trained police officer and nurse.
Senior Constable Angela Evans and clinical nurse Shelley Wallace have been operating the award-winning program since it began in the Far North in 2007.
Sen-Sgt Giles, who has twice travelled to the US to train alongside specialist mental health officers, said it had been steadily rolled out around the state with an officer from the Gold Coast due to visit Cairns this week as part of plans to implement it down there. He said the stigma around mental health was improving but the number of people diagnosed with mental health illnesses was on the rise.