 Hello and welcome to HealthFocus, a production of the Ministry of Health and Wellness. I am Phenonepcheon. Today we have with us the community mental health nurse, Jana Felix-Edward, who will provide us with some information on suicide. Welcome to the program. Thank you for having me. Great. Can you tell us what is suicide? Suicide is the deliberate efforts of an individual to end their own life. And normally persons would contemplate and commit suicide because they see it as a means of escape. They want to escape from a stressful situation and they want to escape from things that are going on in their life that they cannot really deal with at the time. Okay. And for some persons, yes, it might be an escape but they might not actually say that, tell you that I'm going to commit suicide. But what are some of the warning signs for a person that would tell them, okay, this person is attempting suicide? Okay, so actually what you just said is one of the things we find that a lot of persons who are contemplating suicide do. They may say it in a joking way but in truth and in fact they're serious about it. And that is why we keep telling persons that saying that they're going to kill themselves, saying that they're going to harm themselves is something that should be taken seriously by anybody that they say it to. Another thing that they do is they tend to retreat themselves from persons. They tend to isolate themselves from persons that they know, persons that they'll normally go out with, they'll normally spend time with, they no longer spend time with them. They would also tend to not be part of activities that they would love to do. So if they love playing basketball, they love playing football, they tend to not have any more interest in those items. Those are clear signs that that individual is going through a state of depression. In our society, we tend to see a lot of men who draw themselves to substances. So they would start drinking alcohol, they would start smoking excessively. They may even start to do illegal substances like cocaine, crack, etc. With women, you tend to see them try to do things as they tend to start to cut themselves, they tend to start to do drastic things with their bodies. They would colour their hair or they would cut their hair off and stuff like that. Those are things that you would look for in somebody. Initially, when you see them going through that depression where they retreat themselves from other people, there tends to be one day or two days that they're suddenly extremely happy. You need to be very wary at that time because at that time it means that they have a plan and they have found their way out. You mentioned that for somebody who is realising certain signs in somebody that they should be wary. But how can a person assist someone who is feeling suicide? In what way can they actually assist that person? Well, we have the suicide helpline that is available. It's the 203 number, it is a free call on both line, digital and land lines. Other than the 203 line, we have the mental health services in the community that persons can tap themselves into. They can come themselves, they can bring the person along. You find also they, as in if I know somebody who is depressed, who is contemplating suicide, I can call a 203 line and give that person's information and 203 will get into contact with that individual. It's also important that persons understand that when somebody is depressed, when they're crying, when they said they're going to kill themselves, that you do not leave them alone. You always stay with them, call for help and wait until help arrives. It is important that they do that because if that person is alone, that is when they may make that drastic decision to end their life. Okay, and how can a person actually prevent suicidal thoughts? They can keep themselves active, do things that they would normally do on a daily basis. When you're depressed, you tend to not want to do things such as eat, shower, go to work, talk to your family and friends, go out, socialize. So it's important that other than seeking help, you find time to do things that you love to do. You find time to take care of yourself. You find time to do things to distract yourself from thinking negatively. You would watch a movie that you would normally love. Listen to music that you normally love to listen to. Call up a friend that you know you can talk to, a family member that you know you can talk to. Every single community has a health center. They could visit the health center, speak to the community health nurse that is there and they would refer them to the community mental health nurse or somebody from the community mental health team. And for somebody you might say, yes, my friend is suicidal. At what point in time would you believe that this person is at immediate risk for self-harm? Actually at every point. Once the person starts to behave differently, once they seem to be more depressed over something that they shouldn't be depressed over, then they need help at that point. There is different points of counseling that you would do for somebody. So from the time you start to think of committing suicide, from the time you start to feel depressed, it is important to seek early help for early intervention. Early intervention means that there is a life that we would save. There is a life that we would not lose because everybody is a vital part of their household. They perform a function within their household that is important to them, that is important to the community as well. Thank you so much. Well, we are due for a break. When we come back, we'll definitely continue that discussion on suicide. No problem. We'll be back in a moment. Mosquitoes and rats continue to threaten our lives and that of our families. Let us play our part to breed our communities of them. Let's put out our garbage only on collection day and make sure it will be collected. Mosquitoes and rats become everybody's problem, so I secure my standing water with a mesh to prevent mosquito breeding. I secure my garbage in a proper location to prevent rats and dogs from getting into it. I only put it out on collection day. If I can do it, you can do it. It takes about seven minutes a day, once a week. I'll come in my house searching and destroying anything that attracts rats and mosquitoes. Can you do yours? Mosquitoes and rats are not our friends. They can get the sick. Let's get rid of them, stop littering. Some vector-borne diseases can kill. Let's take the necessary precautions. Do not allow rats and mosquitoes to breed on your property. Let us join in the fight against mosquitoes and rats today. Will you join us? Our health is our responsibility. Our actions, our community, our health. Welcome back. We will continue our discussion with nurse Janet Felix Edward on suicide. Before we took the break, we were talking about the knowing and whether or not somebody is at risk and their self-harm. But what support can family and friends provide to someone who is suicidal? Okay, so, when somebody comes to you with thoughts of harm in themselves, it is important that you first listen empathetically. You don't want to give the person the impression that you're judging them based on their situation. It's important to understand that what I may be able to tolerate and withstand, other persons cannot tolerate it. They may not be able to withstand it. So, the fact that they're coming to you means that they trust that you will listen to them and that you give them good advice. So, it is important to listen empathetically to what they have to say. Don't judge them based on their situation. Stay with them until help arrives. And sometimes it's important to put yourself in their place. Imagine going to somebody and trying to speak to them about something that is hurting you deeply. What would you like to hear them say? It is important to that you don't encourage them to do anything negative. Like I said previously in our culture, men tend to, let's go for a drink. It's important to not encourage them to drink their troubles away. And as women, it's important that we not encourage them to eat their troubles away. Let's not go for ice cream. Let's not have a sip of wine. Rather, let's go by the beach. Let's go by the river. Let's sit comfortably in a living room and let's just talk about what it is that you're going through. Let me see how I can help you. And if I feel like I cannot help, let me forward you. Let me refer you to somebody I know who can help you. And that somebody is somebody on the telephone, the 203 line. That somebody is the nurse in the community. That somebody is the psychiatrist in the community. That somebody is counselors and psychotherapists who are part of the mental health team that would help you. We have situations where some persons may have completed suicide and their friends or family may be affected by this. What support can we give to those loved ones? Okay, so as the community team, we provide group therapy. We provide individual therapy. We provide psychotherapy for family members, friends, schools, workplaces, organizations of persons who are affected by an individual who has completed suicide. Because it is important to understand that it's not just one individual that is affected by it. It affects the community because persons at workplaces may feel like they don't understand what has happened. They may feel like they should have done more. They may feel a sense of guilt because the individual has completed suicide. So we offer holistic services for everybody. Once you feel like you're affected negatively, like you're impacted by the individual who has either attempted or completed suicide, you can tap into the services available. Great. And for the community, we have the community as a whole. What support or what is the role of the community as it relates to persons who may be attempting suicide or maybe suicidal? To be positive, to not shed any negative energy towards the individual because that is only going to make the situation worse. We need to make the situation better. We need to become more of an empathetic community. We need to be loving to each other, especially in negative situations. And if you find it difficult to be positive towards an individual, you can always refer them to somebody who will be positive. If the first thing that comes to your mind is not something that is going to help the situation, then it would be best for you to not say anything at all and to send them to the health centre where they can get the help. Okay. And quickly, if you can give a quick message about the solutions on suicide. My message to them would be that it is never too late to seek assistance and that you are not alone. I know you may feel alone, you may feel helpless, you may feel hopeless, but you are not alone. There is an entire team, an entire community of healthcare workers who are willing and who are there to help you. Wonderful. Thank you so much for being part of our program. Thank you for having me. It was definitely a pleasure. Well, that's how we come to the end of Health Focus, a production of the Ministry of Health and Wellness. On behalf of the entire production team, I am Fernand Lettune. Thanks for watching. Until next time.