There are 3 factors in suicide prevention I will address: 1) Suicide has risen on average from 8 to 9 people a day in Australia since COVID. 2) A way for suicidal people to open up when they don't know how to talk about their feelings. 3) A framework to exist for people in suicide distress to get help from the community in the places they go for connection.
26.9% of Australian suicides have alcohol in their system. (2021 study). In Australia alcohol use can create a lifestyle of dependence and is often considered a rite of passage. This can lead to suicide, so how do we prevent this?
GLASS EMPTY is a suicide prevention signal which can be deployed by someone in distress when they turn their glass upside down and place a coaster on its upturned base. Alternatively a coaster, with the GLASS EMPTY logo printed on it, can be discreetly handed to the bar staff to start the conversation and begin the process of getting someone some help.
The Whisperer Team is a group of community helpers who care enough to enter the pub and have a conversation with someone in distress. They are trained in suicide prevention skills. Many of them have lost someone to suicide or have experienced ideation.
These two initiatives, currently trialed in SA, can help get people to feel safe in the places they go for connection. It breaks the stigma of asking for help, because when a pub comes on board it signals to the community it's safe to talk about suicide.
It's also a way for human kindness to work in the community. For every day people to assist someone when they're at their lowest. When someone shows the signal.
In 2021 Wellbeing SA commissioned a feedback report about suicide and its effects on the community. It found: people in the community want to help those in distress. People don't want to be thrown into hospital or be managed by the "system". People want peer support networks and a community-based approach. People want to talk with people who have experienced distress themselves.
The values of a Whisperer include: trust, respect, integrity, confidentiality, kindness and your good self (TRICKY) an appropriate acronym as conversations around suicide distress can be tricky as every conversation around suicide is different. But they're also BRAVE conversations - that's Being Real and Voicing/Validating (Your/Their) Emotions.