Commentary: Fresh national initiatives aside, what more can be done to prevent suicides?
In July this year, we learned that Singapore recorded its highest reported suicide rate (476) in 20 years, a 25.9 per cent increase from the previous year (378). A more recent survey by marketing research firm Ipsos found that about 10 per cent of the population had seriously considered suicide or self-hurt over the past year.
These are troubling signs and a definite cause of concern that needs to be taken seriously. With the recent release of the national mental health and well-being strategy, it is encouraging to know that the Government is taking these issues seriously and implementing measures to tackle them.
These include the setting up of a first-of-its-kind live-in facility for youths with suicidal thoughts — though some youths and mental youth professionals have raised certain concerns about how it would run and if it will ensure patients return to leading a normal life.
However, there remains a very crucial question: Beyond what exists or is in the pipeline, what else can be done to tackle the growing issue of increasing suicide rates in Singapore?
THINKING AHEAD
I believe the key is to recognise that suicide prevention work needs to exist on a continuum and begin before suicide ideation even surfaces.
Currently, we have plenty of initiatives that focus on helping people identify early warning signs of suicide or how to intervene when a crisis occurs, but education has its limitations.
While useful, these prevention strategies rely on the strength and dynamics of existing relationships and the ability of a person’s social circle to pick up on these clues, which may not always be the easiest thing to do and could also result in guilt and self-blame when people around someone who is suicidal are not able to intervene in time.
Here, I would like to suggest three actionable and less discussed solutions that could potentially help bring down the suicide rates in Singapore.
First, equipping people with the skills and knowledge to create a wellness plan could be a way to take charge of our wellness proactively, but it also ensures that there are various protocols and plans in place that people around us can follow during terms of crisis.
A wellness plan is a document that allows us to actively monitor and take stock of our various experiences in life, containing information about different life triggers, downward spirals, and crisis scenarios we may have faced or anticipate facing, and steps/solutions that can be taken to address them.
Total Wellness Initiative Singapore runs such workshops to walk individuals through a step-by-step process on how to create one.
Furthermore, people are encouraged to create and share wellness plans with others in their social circles. Doing so creates a tailored safety net (as part of the crisis planning stage) that helps us to identify potential signs of suicidal ideation in our loved ones and those around us.
THINKING BIGGER
Second, we can also consider implementing more means-restricting suicide prevention approaches on a larger scale.
Such an approach would first involve identifying “hot spots” or methods people use to end their lives. Following this, barriers that make it harder for people to access such means of killing themselves can be implemented.
For example, suppose a particular block of flats has seen multiple deaths from public spaces (for example, staircase landings, common corridors); in that case, physical blockades such as grills or higher panels can be implemented to ensure people are unable to reach places that are dangerous easily.
Research has shown that when various means are less cognitively available (that is, how easily accessible these means are within a person’s mind), they are not considered to be viable options as frequently. Similar barriers have been enacted in other “hot spots” in countries such as Australia and the United Kingdom, to encouraging results.
However, although restricting access does not eradicate the root causes contributing to their suicidal ideation, it could deter people from acting on them immediately, allowing space for possible intervention.
Lastly, social media can be a powerful tool that may support our suicide prevention efforts.
Beyond being platforms that disseminate helpline and help-seeking avenues, they can play a more direct role in allowing users to flag potential signs that someone may be contemplating suicide or need immediate help.
Facebook users in the United States and several other countries have the ability to flag posts that may suggest there is a risk of suicide, following which wellness checks can be carried out by professionals.
In Singapore, users can similarly flag concerning posts, but no trained personnel are activated to check up on such individuals.
In line with expanding access to crisis care, having social media platforms work with healthcare and first responder organisations to develop such a referral system could create yet another safety net that can be implemented on a large scale.
Some people may not immediately know what to do if they come across such content online, especially if they are not personally close or familiar with the person posting it.
However, with such an option in place, they can still play a part in bringing attention to someone who may be quietly crying out for help.
Taken together, these three suggestions will not fully bring suicide rates down to zero but will potentially reduce them. At the very least, they allow us to give struggling people the opportunity to consider other paths before deciding on one that is impossible to return from.
Ultimately, the choice to end one’s life is complex and nuanced, influenced by many factors, and nearly impossible to predict accurately.
Beyond proactive interventions, it is more pertinent than ever that we foster a culture of kindness and care that encourages help-seeking and empathy toward others.
Doing so can help reignite a spark of hope in people who may not be able to see beyond the darkness and pain they are trapped within.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Dr Jonathan Kuek is a mental health researcher specialising in recovery approaches to the management and understanding of mental health conditions. He is also the co-founder of The Total Wellness Initiative Singapore, which seeks to encourage people to be more proactive with their well-being.
