12.09.12
New suicide prevention strategy
Source: Paddy Cooney, interim director of the Mental Health Network
This strategy will help renew focus on how we can reduce suicide among all sections of society, and how we can provide better support for people at risk. Over the past 12 years, the number of inpatient suicides has fallen by over 60 per cent. We want to see this kind of progress continue, so we welcome the commitment to fund research into why people take their own life and how we can better prevent it. This will be particularly important in identifying how we can make mental health care better to reduce suicide risk.
Our members welcome that this new strategy also considers ways in which we can improve how we support those affected by suicide, such as bereaved friends and family members. Although suicide is often associated with feelings of isolation and loneliness, there is no doubt that suicide has a devastating impact on friends and families. We know that as well as better identifying those at risk of suicide, we must work better with those affected by it too.
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