Citation

Boyce P. Aust. N. Zeal. J. Psychiatry 2020; 54(4): 341-343.

Affiliation

Discipline of Psychiatry, Sydney Medical School, Westmead Clinical School, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2020, Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists, Publisher SAGE Publishing)

DOI

10.1177/0004867420915279

PMID

32252537

Abstract

After a summer of bushfires, followed by floods and the continuing COVID-19 pandemic, it is heartening to be able to read some positive findings about a possible suicide prevention programme. School students who participated in a teen mental health first aid course (tMHFA) were better able to recognise suicidality and use appropriate first aid interventions towards peers at risk of suicide. Hart et al. (this issue) conducted a cluster randomised crossover trial in high schools in which high school students either received tMHFA (three 75-minute sessions) or a physical first aid course of similar duration. An assessment of mental health literacy was made prior to the programme, immediately after the programme, and 12 months after training. The participants were assessed on the basis of their responses to a vignette about a fellow student with marked depressive symptoms and ‘ … believes his family would be better off without him’. The students who received tMHFA were more likely to recognise suicidality and apply appropriate first aid interventions (e.g. they asked about suicide, told him they noticed something was wrong with him and wanted to make sure he was okay, and suggested that he tell an adult) than the students who had received the physical first aid course. Remarkably, this suggests that providing even a brief four-session course in mental health first aid may go somewhere towards helping students recognising and providing appropriate first aid to their colleagues who may be expressing suicidal ideation. Such first aid programmes could easily be adopted in high schools equipping students with valuable skills that could lower the risk of suicide in this vulnerable group.

However, it is important to note that while this shows some promise as a universal intervention, particularly encouraging help-seeking, it is of concern that the level of healthcare utilisation among suicide attempters is not optimal, as shown in a study from Austria ...

Language: en