Table of Contents

0

Table of Contents

Introduction

3

Chapter 1: Understanding Suicide

1.1 Categories of Suicidal Behaviours

6

1.2 Ecological Model for Understanding Suicidal Behaviours

7

1.3 Protective Factors

8

1.4 Risk Factors

9

1.5 Myths and Facts about Suicide

11

Chapter 2: Early Identification - Detecting the Warning Signs

2.1 Warning Signs

14

2.2 Understanding Individual Differences

17

Chapter 3: Responding to Suicidal Behaviours

3.1 Overall Strategies in Responding to Students with Suicidal Warning Signs

20

3.2 General Principles When Talking with the Students

22

3.3 Initial Evaluation of Students' Suicidal Risks

25

3.4 Issue of Confidentiality

28

3.5 Responding to Students with Suicidal Ideation or Intent (Case Illustration)

29

3.6 Responding to Students with Imminent Suicidal Risks / Immediate

33

Life-threatening Behaviours

3.7 Points to Note When Speaking to Suicidal Students in Life-threatening

35

Situations

3.8 Responding to Suicidal Threats on Social Media

36

Chapter 4: Making Referral

4.1 Barriers that Prevent Young People from Seeking Help

37

4.2 Encouraging Students to Seek Help

38

4.3 Referring Out for Professional Support

39

4.4 Record Keeping

39

Chapter 5: Communicating with Parents

5.1 Communicating Concerns to Parents

40

5.2 Addressing the Needs of Parents

41

1

Chapter 6: Re-entry Support for Students

6.1 Formulating a Re-entry Plan

43

6.2 Peer Support and Preparation

45

6.3 Parental Involvement

47

6.4 Preventing Copycat Behaviour

48

6.5 Facing Media Reporting

50

Chapter 7: School-wide Suicide Prevention Work

7.1 Developing Students' Resilience

52

References

54

Appendices

Appendix 1: Warning Signs of Mental Health Difficulties

58

Appendix 2: Suicidal Risk Record Form

61

Appendix 3: Safety Plan Template

62

Appendix 4: Dos and Don'ts in Interacting with a Post-suicidal Student

64

Appendix 5: Conducting Classroom Discussion in response to a Student's

66

Suicide Attempt

Appendix 6: Resources for Suicide Prevention Work in Schools(Click for the Appendix)

2

INTRODUCTION

Every life counts. One life lost is one too many. We can all make a difference

in our students' lives.

Suicides are deeply saddening tragedies. Student suicides are particularly so, not only to the families and friends of the deceased, but also to the larger community. Prevention of student suicides is therefore of great importance and a priority in our society.

Did you know...

According to the World Health Organisation (WHO) Mortality Database, there were an estimated 804 000 suicide deaths worldwide in 2012, with an annual global age-standardised suicide rate of 11.4 per 100 000 persons. For youth between 15 to 29 years of age, suicide ranked as the second leading cause of death globally (WHO, 2014). In Hong Kong, the Centre for Suicide Research and Prevention's (CSRP) data showed that the age-standardised suicide rate was 9.3 per 100 000 persons in September 2015 and that the suicide rate for youth aged 15 to 24 was 8.5 per 100 000 persons (CSRP, 2015).

It is important to know that suicides are preventable. Global and local

epidemiological research reveals that suicidal behaviour is a complex phenomenon influenced by different intertwining factors, such as mental disorders, substance abuse, as well as other biological, familial, and situational factors (WHO, 2014). The prevention of youth suicides requires collaborated efforts of different parties of the

community to building connection with our youth to create a supportive safety net for them.

3

As frontline teachers and workers at school, we need to be equipped with knowledge and skills in handling students' suicidal behaviours; and act promptly to answer to their needs. International research findings show that over 80% of completed suicides have been preceded by warning signs (The Crisis Intervention and Suicide Prevention Centre of British Columbia, 2013; Granello &

Granello, 2007). Such findings highlight the importance of timely intervention and support for students who express suicidal ideation.

This Resource Handbook, serving as a more focused update of the previous document "An eBook on Student Suicide for Schools: Early Detection, Intervention & Postvention (EDIP)", aims to provide teachers and other school personnel with a more thorough understanding of suicide including its risk and protective factors, knowledge and skills in

detecting warning signs of suicide, and most importantly, practical tips for responding to

suicidal behaviours. Information, strategies and illustrations provided in this Resource Handbook are based on local and global research and literature, as well as educational psychologists' frontline experiences in providing support to schools.

The 3-Tier Support Model

Based on the 3-tier support model suggested by the WHO (2014), this Resource Handbook

focuses on the handling of tier two and tier three students who are at risk of suicide and

display suicidal behaviours. It also provides information on how to support post-suicidal students re-entering the school environment and how to lessen the risk of contagion.

Furthermore, a list of resources for tier one universal prevention can be found in Chapter

7 to facilitate school-wide suicide prevention work.

4

 ................
................

In order to avoid copyright disputes, this page is only a partial summary.

Google Online Preview   Download