MENTA L H E A LT H
“As someone’s co-worker or supervisor,
we spend a lot of time with them –
maybe even more than their family.
That means we’re one of their best
defenses if they’re struggling.”
Recognizing the signs
What does it look like when some-one
is struggling with thoughts of sui-cide?
No two people express their sit-uation
in quite the same way, but
almost everyone displays signs of some
kind. LivingWorks, one of the leading
developers of suicide prevention train-ing,
prefers to call them “invitations.”
“That’s really what they are,” said
LivingWorks’ Randy Thompson, who
sits on the Board of Trustees for the
Construction Industry Alliance for
Suicide Prevention. “When people act
in this way, they’re inviting us to reach
out, check on them and help them.”
Some of the common “invitations”
to look for include talking about death
or dying, saying that they feel like a
burden or see no way out of their prob-lems,
giving away possessions, engaging
in risky behaviour and alcohol or drug
abuse. Changes in appearance, groom-ing
or sleep patterns and loss of inter-est
in regular activities can also indicate
that someone is thinking about suicide.
So if you’ve identified an employee
or a co-worker who’s giving off these
“invitations,” what’s the next step?
Talking directly to someone
“If you suspect that someone might be
thinking about suicide, it’s important to
be direct,” said Thompson. “Don’t beat
around the bush or use euphemisms.
Use a statement that incorporates what
you’ve observed about them that’s wor-rying,
and then ask the question. For
example, if there’s an employee on
your site who’s talking about feeling
like a burden to his family, say some-thing
like, ‘You’re talking about feel-ing
like a burden and how it would be
better if you weren’t here. That really
has me worried, because it sounds like
you’re talking about killing yourself.
So I have to ask you directly because I
care about you – are you thinking about
killing yourself?’”
– Randy Thompson, LivingWorks
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