Quote:
Originally Posted by Jack_
The best way to deter people from taking their own life is to address their mental wellbeing and underlying issues and work out how we can see the symptoms/help resolve them before it gets to that stage
If someone is prepared to kill themsleves I don't think the pain is going to be a deterrent. Let's not forget self harm is often a precursor to suicide
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You're so right, Jack. Having worked with young people with mental health issues for many years, I can say that most schools are good at recognising the signs and symptoms, and that the ways to address them are known.
Unfortunately, any form of counselling or support within schools (which in my experience has made a massive difference to those lucky enough to have had access to to it) is the first thing in budgets that is cut.
Many schools have had to make redundancies and hard choices in recent years due to changes in funding, so many have lost counselling staff as well as support assistants for those with social and emotional issues, which are exactly the individuals who are likely to develop mental health issues.
There is also a major flaw with how the mental health services work. I took a young lad of 17 to emergency after a serious suicide attempt. He had been in the mental health system throughout his teenage years due to a host of mental health issues, and social/emotional issues. Having been thrown out of home, he had not seen a doctor since leaving school so had slipped outside the system.
I was told in A&E, that child mental health ends at 16 and adult mental health begins at 18, so basically there was a problem getting either to provide support for him as neither saw it as their responsibility.
I was horrified that, at such a crucial age, the system was so flawed. Very scary.