Janet Bell says there needs to be more suicide awareness, after urging a young man not to take his life on the weekend. 83047 Picture: STEWART CHAMBERS
LIA BICHEL
A WOMAN who urged a young man not to take his own life on the weekend has joined a community push to create suicide awareness.
Beaconsfield resident Janet Bell said she saw a man pacing near an overpass in Narre Warren about 12.30pm on Saturday and thought he looked distressed, so she stopped her car in an effort to help.
She said the man, a 20-year-old Berwick resident, was in tears and told her he was about to be evicted from his house and was struggling to financially support himself, and his family.
Ms Bell told the man there were organisations that could help him, and after an hour, she gave him her phone number and they parted ways. She has yet to hear from him and said she hoped he was all right.
Ms Bell said there needed to be more awareness about suicide and support services so people who felt depressed knew where to turn for help.
“The financial crunch is hurting everyone and it’s hard enough as adults – we sometimes forget about the young people. This young man wasn’t on drugs and hadn’t been drinking – he was under a lot of pressure and was stressed. I spoke to him and told him he wasn’t meant to die, and told him there were support services which could help him,” Ms Bell said
“There needs to be more public awareness out there. People don’t talk about suicides but they need to talk about this in schools. Young people need to learn how to communicate so they don’t bottle things up and they need to know where to find help.”
Ms Bell’s concerns echo those of many in the community, with several initiatives arising recently to address a suicide problem in the City of Casey and across the state.
Last week, Holt MP Anthony Byrne told parliament he wanted to hold a summit to create more awareness about suicides.
Mr Byrne said one of the biggest issues affecting the area was suicides and he was incredibly disturbed to learn that one school in his representative area had 11 suicides of former students in the past 18 months.
“I am hearing, unfortunately, story after story of young people who know about young people who have taken their lives,” Mr Byrne said.
“We know that youth suicide is an incredibly important issue, and that governments pay attention to it, but young people are dying – they are dying in my area – and that is just not good enough. We have to do something to reduce the terrible toll this is taking on our young people in the community.”
Mr Holt said that according to experts, six or seven Australians died by suicide every day and for each person lost by suicide approximately 30 others had made a suicide attempt.
Mr Holt said that according to a 2011 report called ‘Before it is too late,’ one of the key preventative measures needed is to create a national suicide awareness campaign.
Mr Byrne said the main programs run are by beyondblue; Suicide Helpline, Lifeline; Headspace which is run by the National Youth Mental Health Foundation a website called ‘Living is for everyone’ and a Facebook page created by young people called ‘Coming together to prevent youth suicide’.
The page was created by former Beaconhills student Jessica Cummings, 18, and her boyfriend Thom Hartland, who know at least five people who have committed suicide. The page already has more than 13,000 members. It is not a crisis page, but plays hosts to thousands of young teenagers’ stories and provides information about support and petitions, including one by Berwick Year 12 student Adelaide Asquith who is calling for more funding so there can be more support, education and awareness in schools.
Windermere Child and Family Services has also begun rolling out a pilot suicide prevention and intervention program to at least four schools, and as reported in the News earlier this month (7 June) Reverend John McMahon is launching The Born Survivor Program created by Focus on Family Australia to give students in schools the understanding needed to seek support if they or someone they know are dealing with a mental illness such as suicidal thoughts.
Mr Byrne said he also hoped to help the community by convening a summit in the electorate of Holt in the near future.
“One suicide is one too many,” Mr Byrne said.
“Listening to the voices in our community through this Facebook group, through this Facebook page and other young community leaders we are going to make sure their voices are heard by convening the summit and making sure we have a regional, area-wide plan to stop another young person dying in my electorate.”
