Be a good neighbour

Those of us who have been through it will never forget it. The phone call to inform us a loved one has taken their own life.

For me it was a friend, and we were his closest friends. He told us about his feeling of lack of purpose, that life was not worth living.

He never actually mentioned the word ‘suicide’, but all the signs were there.

He was found dead by his teenage children. It was the most traumatic funeral, with all of us wishing we had known what to do to prevent the tragedy.

The latest study, ‘Suicide in rural Australia: A retrospective study of mental health problems, healthseeking and service utilisation’ shows rates are higher in regional areas and the reasons are not fully understood.

The data for the study was compiled by accessing coroners reports from five years of cases and found that suicide rates were 11 percent higher than the national average. Fifty-six percent had been diagnosed with a mental illness and a further 24 percent had undiagnosed symptoms.

“Reported diagnoses of mental illness decreased with remoteness, as did treatment for mental illness, particularly in men. The most reported diagnoses were mood disorders, 70 percent, psychotic disorders, nine percent and anxiety disorders, eight percent. In the six weeks before suicide, 22 percent of cases had visited any type of health service at least once, and six percent had visited two or more services. Medication alone accounted for 76 percent of all cases treated,” the report stated.

One of the authors of the study was Dr David Perkins, director of the Centre for Rural and Remote Mental Health at the University of Newcastle.

As he explained in an interview on Country Today, there were two age categories that suffered far more deaths: The 15 to 24 age group and then the over 75s.

“For the younger ones, this is when your whole life is before you – you might be having a relationship hope that has been dashed. There might be a whole series of reasons why, in that really formative period where your opportunities in rural areas might seem really challenging,” Dr Perkins said.

I went to an informal gathering of farming families at the aptly named Farmers Arms Hotel in Benalla where I live.

One of the older stalwarts of the local farmers hosts the show to encourage farmers, some of whom live alone and many who work alone, to come and talk with like-minded people with similar problems.

It was also great to see several of the young ones just starting their career in farming.

I thought of that initiative that is so simple but so important when Dr Perkins talked of the R U OK? campaign.

“We need to be good neighbours. We need to work out how we’re going to connect with our neighbours, our work mates, our school mates, our family members, ringing up people we haven’t seen for a while, noticing if someone is not coming to the sports club. The personal, human role, the R U OK question,” he said.

As it says, a question that could change a life and possibly even save one. • People can visit www.beyondblue. org.au or www.lifeline.org.au for information and support about anxiety, depression and suicide. People in need of crisis support and suicide prevention services can call Lifeline’s 24-hour hotline on 13 11 14. If a life is in danger, people should call police on triple zero.