Lifeline Australia

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Lifeline Australia's E-Newsletter

March 2006 

CEO Message

This week, the Australia Bureau of Statistics released data showing a downward trend in reported suicide deaths in Australia. These statistics do provide encouragement, but is no cause for complacency. The reality is that too many Australians are dying unnecessarily because most people don’t know how to recognise the signs of, or deal with, people who are suicidal.

The ABS data shows an overall drop of nearly 23 per cent in reported suicides during the seven years between 1997 and 2004, with 2001 the only year to record an increase. In 2004, there were 622 fewer reported suicides than in 1997. Australian suicide rates, which take into account population changes, have fallen during this period from 14.7 suicides per 100,000 people to 10.4 in 2004.

As a nation, we are moving in the right direction but there is still so much more that can and should be done. If you look at the turnaround in road deaths over the same period you can see the impact awareness and education campaigns can have in saving lives.

A key challenge is to help the downward trend in suicide deaths continue, but also identify and respond to people at risk now. Many suicides could have been prevented if more of is understood how to respond to people with suicidal thoughts. People can make a big difference. They can talk to the person about the issue – listen to their concerns, help them get to help. They can help people stay safe and re-connect with reasons for living. Suicide prevention is everyone’s business, not just mental health professionals.

This highlights the importance of paying attention to peoples’ distress. Common signs include talk of hopelessness, sudden mood swings or loss of interest in things like hobbies or work. Be especially alert to any talk of suicide. The most important thing that friends and family can do is to take the person seriously. Anyone expressing suicidal thoughts needs immediate attention - suicidal behaviour is a cry for help and most people can get through the crisis with the right help.

You don’t need to say much and there are no magic words, but you can respond to their distress and ask if they are having thoughts of suicide. If you think they are suicidal don’t leave them alone, help them to stay safe and help them to get professional help. Do not try to go it alone. Get help for the person and for yourself. You can start by calling a Lifeline telephone counsellor on 13 11 14.

There are a number ways people can learn more about helping people at risk of suicide to stay safe and to get further help. Since the mid 1990s, Lifeline’s LivingWorks program has provided training in suicide first aid prevention though the internationally recognised ASIST program. About 36,000 Australians have completed the two day workshop.

Lifeline also produces a ten point tool kit for helping someone at risk of suicide that will help people identify the signs, decide what to do, and learn what help is available. The tool kit is available by calling Lifeline’s Just ask on 1300 13 11 14 during business hours or by visiting the Just ask web site at www.justask.org.au. This edition of the Lifeline Australia newsletter gives more information about LivingWorks’ ASIST program as well as an overview of an innovative suicide prevention program being trialled across the country.

Dawn Smith
CEO

LivingWorks invites you to ASIST (Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training)

livingworks_logo

ASIST is a two-day interactive workshop in suicide first-aid where you learn how to respond to someone at risk of suicide. Suicide first aid prepares us to work with people at risk to increase their immediate safety and get further help. Suicide first aid training could help save a life.

The workshop provides opportunities to learn what a person at risk may need from others in order to keep safe and get more help. ASIST trains participants to reduce the immediate risk of a suicide and increase the support for a person at risk. ASIST helps people apply suicide first aid in many settings – with family, friends, co-workers and in the more formal helping relationships. Benefits can be found in everyday situations, professional work or volunteering.

To find out more visit www.livingworks.org.au or call LivingWorks on (03) 9894 1833.

Calling Lifeline

Every day, over 1300 people call Lifeline. Each caller will speak with a trained volunteer telephone counsellor, committed to hearing their concerns, providing emotional support and exploring practical steps to dealing with their life situation. Referrals to further community help will be offered when needed.

Two out of every three callers will be phoning after hours, overnight or on weekends, when other services are less accessible or closed. Each day, call numbers will peak in the evenings but the phones will still be active well into the early hours of the morning and continue until dawn when the daily pattern resumes.

Who calls?
People of all ages phone Lifeline. However, callers are more likely to be people aged from their mid 20s to early 50s with rural callers slightly older on average than those phoning urban Lifeline centres. Women seek help more than men, so Lifeline’s call patterns are no exception.

The gender difference is less pronounced in callers between the ages of 45 and 65. The most striking feature is the high proportion of callers who are not in a primary relationship or who have experienced significant relationship loss and breakdown. This is reflected in what many people phone to talk about.

Being aware of people less likely to call is also important for Lifeline’s development as a service. Discovering what would promote help-seeking among men is one challenge.
Older adults are another focus. Only 7% of calls are from people over 65, even though the proportion of the population in this age-group is 12% and growing.

What is on caller’s minds?
Callers phone about a wide range of concerns. However four stand out: family issues, relationship breakdown, mental health and adjustment or loss. A common thread running through many of these calls is a sense of isolation and aloneness which features most strongly among those with mental health concerns. Callers with thoughts of suicide continue to view Lifeline as a source of help. Many of these callers are at high risk of self-harm. Getting emergency help for someone whose life is at immediate risk from suicide happens every day.

Caller themes at a glance

  • Nearly half of all counselling calls are about family issues such as parenting, partner crises, separation and divorce) or general relationship breakdown.
  • Mental health concerns are common – particularly coping with anxiety, depression, trauma, substance misuse and schizophrenia.
  • Adjustment and loss also feature strongly – especially issues relating to death, illness and life changes.

Brief Profiles

  • Nearly 50% of callers are aged 25-44
  • Rural callers are more likely to be older, peaking in the 45-54 age-group.
  • Women are twice as likely to call as men.
  • Male calls are highest among 35-54 year olds.
  • 42% are single and a further 30% separated, divorced or widowed.

Are you interested in becoming a Lifeline Volunteer Telephone Counselllor?

Would you like to become one Lifeline’s 5,000 Volunteer Telephone Counsellors (TCs)? Every day, all around Australia, Lifeline is recruiting and training TCs.

Who is Lifeline looking for?

People from all walks of life who are prepared to:

What’s in it for you?

What does training involve?
There is a nominal cost for training. The course may include:

What do TCs say about the experience?

"The training has taught me things that are really useful, both on the phones at Lifeline and also in my personal life. I’ve become much more aware of how to listen well to the people I love”.

”"I found the training to be such a fantastic learning curve – I learned so much, about myself and others and all in a supportive, caring environment."

For more information, Please contact your local Lifeline Centre (this can be found on the Lifeline Australia website ../localcentre.php or by checking the White Pages.

Dancing with the Stars

Toby Allen, from Human Nature has chosen Lifeline Canberra as his charity in the new season of Prime TV’s top rating show. The longer Toby and his dance partner, Leanne Bampton, stay on the show, the more exposure Lifeline receives nationally. So please send your votes in every week.

A VOTE FOR TOBY IS A VOTE FOR LIFELINE
Here is Toby’s number:
1902 555 019
OR SMS: TOBY 194 777

Legion Interactive.
Voting cost 55cents max. Mobile phones to1902 extra
Voting closes Tuesday’s at 7.30pm (AEST/AEDT)
Voting terms and conditions available on www.seven.com.au

Lifeline's Suicide Crisis Support Program

Various Lifeline Centres have provided support over the years to people at high risk of suicide with regular outgoing telephone calls. Lifeline’s Suicide Crisis Support Program is a project presently being trialled at five Centres utilising the combined wisdom of past Centre experience teamed up with a research review and consultation process drawing up draft national guidelines.

Lifeline’s Suicide Crisis Support Program is an innovative program being offered by Lifeline. Research shows us that people who have previously attempted suicide are at greater risk of suiciding. Lifeline’s Suicide Crisis Support Program aims to provide short-term crisis support in the form of a specially trained volunteer Lifeline Telephone Counsellor, who makes regular telephone calls for a period of up to 6–8 weeks to a person who has attempted, or is at increased risk of suicide.

The success of this type of program is based on relationship development, reconnection with the caller’s community, encouraging help-seeking behaviour, and encouraging linkages with local mental health services. The underlying premise of this program is to provide a safety net for those most vulnerable in our community and the promotion of continuity of care for callers at risk. Lifeline’s Suicide Crisis Support Program is currently being trialled in five Lifeline Centres: Adelaide (SA), Northern Beaches (NSW), Gippsland (Vic), South Coast (NSW) and Newcastle & Hunter (NSW). These trials have been supported by funding from the Commonwealth Department of Health & Ageing, a BHP Biliton National Community Programs grant and donations made to Lifeline designated for suicide prevention purposes. The University of Canberra developed the literature review and will provide external evaluation of the program.

Centres support experienced volunteers with training and supervision in order to be able to resource those most vulnerable in our community when they need it most. This program strengthens Lifeline’s culture of volunteerism and community capacity building, and our commitment to resourcing the community and providing skills that are transferable and wide-reaching.

For more information about Lifeline’s Suicide Crisis Support Program, please contact the Lifeline Australia National Office on (02) 6215 9400.

Lifeline International

As our world becomes more and more of a global village, the importance and relevance of LifeLine International has increased. LifeLine International links centres and people in many parts of the world through telephone counselling and related services. Across the world there are 300 LifeLine Centres with 200 centres operating 24 hours a day. Globally there are 30,000 active volunteers and each year LifeLine answers 3 million calls from around the globe.

LifeLine International meets face to face once a year and while they are in contact with seventeen countries, seven are represented on the Board. As with any international organisation there is diversity of culture, beliefs and language represented. This brings great richness to LifeLine’s understanding of counselling in different cultural contexts and of course challenges in communicating these to each other.

For more information about LifeLine International go to: www.lifeline-international.org.