Dr Roger Ball, a social worker and lecturer on trauma intervention and suicide prevention, insists that ‘being there’ for people who have been traumatised, have suicidal thoughts or attempted suicide is an important first step in helping them to heal and recover.
Addressing the 16th World Suicide Prevention Day 2024 on Tuesday at the Terra Nova All Suite Hotel in St Andrew, Ball said suicide was a global issue that was not limited by an individual’s socio-economic status.
“Suicide cuts across genders, across geography, across religions … none of us are immune to grief, none of us are immune to life … all things in life, we all depend on them,” he added. .
The event was held to mark World Suicide Prevention Day, which was themed ‘Changing the Narrative of Suicide’, with the call to action, ‘Start the Conversation’.
According to Ball, trauma is defined by three Es: the event, the experience, and the effect or outcome.
He recounted a personal incident where he was involved in an accident with an 18-wheeler while traveling in New York.
“The car was hit, I was hit … it was a mess,” he said.
“The event is the accident; of course the experience is that I’m pretty crazy. I made one call home – and those who are suffering have to be able to call home, a big part of suicide prevention is being able to call home,” he said.
He went on to say that while he was in the hospital, one of his calls home seemed to have “drained” the Bronx, NY and West Chester, PA neighborhoods as people filled the hospital waiting room to offer their support.
“Members of my congregation, my wife, my brothers, sisters, my in-laws, they came to me … and when we talk about trauma-informed practice, what we talk about … is that we show up,” he said, and how you reacts to interrupting the narrative that the person is telling himself.
“When we talk about recovery, for example, that’s how we meet those who are suffering,” Ball added, noting further that exposure to trauma can increase the risk of suicide.
He said that trauma disrupts a person’s personal narrative such as “I can do all things, I can go all places, I can become anything in the world” because “when there is trauma, it disrupts or interferes with our sense of self , our bodies themselves. , [and] how safe we believe the world is’.
Ball, who serves as the social work coordinator for the Bronx District of the New York City Public School System (NYCPS) Office of Safety and Youth Development, continued to emphasize trauma-informed strategies developed by substance abuse and mental health services. Medication Administration (SAMHSA), based on the four Rs: understand trauma and its impact on individuals, identify indicators of trauma, have tools to respond to trauma, and avoid re-trauma.
He added that this requires people to “get close” to each other so they can participate in helping people experiencing trauma and suicidal thoughts.
In her presentation on global trends in suicidal ideation, grief and trauma, therapist Dr Grace Kelly said that one suicide occurs every 40 seconds and that suicide is very common around the world.
She said 20 to 30 people take their own lives for every 100,000 people in Europe, the continent with the highest suicide rate.
Over a five to 10-year period, the annual suicide rate in Jamaica averages two per 100,000 people.
International data indicate that young people aged 15 to 29 are the most likely to end their lives, and that 77 percent of suicides globally occurred among low- and middle-income countries and families.
Kelly further noted that some of the main causes of individuals seeking to end their lives were relationship problems, mental health disorders, financial difficulties, social isolation, cultural and societal pressures, access to lethal substances, sexual offenses and the impact of COVID-19.
According to statistics from the Planning Institute of Jamaica’s Economic and Social Survey Jamaica, 64 people committed suicide in 2022, compared to 51 the previous year.
Individuals who need help can contact the Ministry of Health and Welfare at its 24-hour mental health service and suicide prevention line at 888-NEW-LIFE (888-639-5433).
asha.wilks@gleanerjm.com
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