Towards Zero Suicide

We talk to the frontliners who are there for those in their darkest hour, and also ask if our region is properly resourced to assist families impacted by a loved one's suicide. 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
This episode contains conversations about suicide that some may find distressing.
If this raises issues for yourself or someone you know
who's struggling, Lifeline is available twenty four to seven on
one three double one one four, or you can go
to lifeline dot org dot au.

Speaker 2 (00:18):
Why Why Ah Far South Coast.

Speaker 3 (00:21):
I think that we could stop being so judgmental. I
think that we could stop using mental health as an insult.
I think that we need to understand that suicide isn't
always a choice that that person made. It's not the
easy way out. That person didn't dip out and just
leave you stuck in it. That person was so anguished

(00:43):
in a moment that they couldn't see any other way out.

Speaker 1 (00:47):
That's Dianne Griffin, Bateman's Bay mum, who sat down recently
with Iheartfarsouth Coast to share her family's absolute heartbreak at
the tender age of seventeen. Their son and brother, Sean
book his own life in twenty nineteen. The Griffin family
felt compelled to create a loving tribute to Sean and
anyone else overwhelmed by feelings of despair, A miuror with

(01:11):
the words your somebody, someone now graces the old concrete
water tanks sitting near the Hanging Rock Sporting Complex. Hello,
I'm James Fantasy. In this episode, we want to take
a look at some of the services available on the
far South Coast for anyone navigating the loneliness of feeling
overwhelmed to the point of contemplating the end of a life,

(01:32):
but also what services are available for those who are
trying to make sense of their loss caused by the
suicide of a loved one. So what we're talking about
is suicide prevention and also suicide postvention as they call it.
Let's start with the Biggest Safe Haven, which opened its
doors in March member for Begar. Doctor Michael Holland explains.

Speaker 4 (01:54):
It's a free walk in service designed to support people
with mental health distress. It's present at seventeen Bigger Street,
Biger and it's open seven days a week from twelve
pm till seven pm. Those people suffering from significant mental
health distress or suicidal ideation are welcome there. They will
be seen in a relaxed and welcoming environment. It's a

(02:17):
very homely and airy, calming environment for people to attend.
And these people are the people who would otherwise avoid
going to hospitals or would be further distressed by attending
emergency department waiting rooms or the emergency department areas.

Speaker 1 (02:34):
Kira van Klink is on the front line of the
Bigger safe Haven. She also manages the Towards Zero Suicides
initiative for the Southern New South Wales Local Health District.

Speaker 5 (02:44):
We've probably had about one hundred and eighty people through,
but some of it is people just wanting to have
a look and not necessarily asking for help with this stage,
but it's good to know and word of mouth is
really important for this community support. And yes, I mean
it's an alternative to the emergency department, but it's very
non clinical. We don't have medications here and if people
do need medical care then we would support someone to

(03:07):
get that through the hospital or their GP if needed.
And our age demographic is anyone from fourteen years and
over fourteen to sixteen. They would need to have a
parent or guardian with them, and if they come without,
that's okay. We can still offer support until that person
comes before we would sort of talk to the person.

(03:28):
But yep, if you're one hundred, you're still welcome.

Speaker 1 (03:32):
The reasons that people are coming and what they're wanting
to get from the Big Safe Hope Look.

Speaker 5 (03:38):
It's reasons vary. It's very personal. If people have some
emotional distress, anxiety, depression, just thoughts of not feeling safe,
they're welcome to come. If people have relationship breakdowns or
domestic violence that they want support with, we're here. We're

(03:59):
here for pretty much everyone, just not the medical care.

Speaker 1 (04:03):
What would you say to people out there who may
be concerned about a family member who isn't reaching out
for help, or you know someone that might you know,
just be a bit shy or not willing to take
that first step and check out a place like the
Bigger Safe Haven Look.

Speaker 5 (04:20):
Always call and get advice. If you're worried, come in
yourself and have a look, and then you can sort
of talk about what it's like to the person and
then hopefully they might want to come with you. We
can always the Spot service can always go to someone's home.
That the purpose of the Spot team is to see

(04:41):
people wear the most comfortable, So if they're more comfortable
at home, then we can go to their home as
long as they want to see us and we're invited.
We never force ourselves on anyone, but if you're concerned
about someone, pick up the phone. You can ring the
one eight hundred Mental Health Line. It's one eight hundred
zero double one five double one and they will always
direct you to the best service that you need.

Speaker 1 (05:03):
There are other services ready to assist anyone struggling with
mental health, situational distress, or maybe you just need someone
to talk to. You can reach out to the Rural
Adversity Mental Health Program. There's Headspace and the Bigger Valley
Urubidella Suicide Prevention Collaborative Stay with us on Iheartfast South Coast. Next,
we look at these services for those that are left

(05:26):
behind by suicide. Families like the Griffins of Bateman's Bay,
who continue to deal with the enormity of picking up
their lives after losing Sean.

Speaker 3 (05:35):
They are not thinking, I can't do this to mum,
because I'm sure as Sean had thought that, he would
have stopped in his tracks. They're not thinking of that.
They're not thinking, oh, I can't do this because it'll
do that. They're not thinking about the beyond that moment.
All they're thinking about is I need to stop this
pain in my head.

Speaker 2 (05:58):
I art Fast southdo. Why are Far South Coast? So?

Speaker 6 (06:04):
I lost my dad to suicide seven years ago, so
this work is really personal to me as well and
being able to, I guess sit with people on this
horrible journey that they're going on.

Speaker 1 (06:15):
I'm James fantasy and that's big of Elli local Karen Wright,
who works in the not often heard about area of
expertise known as suicide post vention. The grief from losing
a loved one at their own hands can last for decades.
Karen's first and experience in trying to find her own
coping mechanisms to process her father's death now sees her

(06:36):
helping others on the Far South Coast who may be
carrying a range of deep emotions in the aftermath of
losing someone to suicide. She's now working as the Southeast
New South Wales coordinator for the service Standby Support after Suicide.

Speaker 6 (06:50):
As she explains, Standby is actually a postvention program, not
a prevention program, so we support people who have been
impacted by suicide death so that you know, it might
be family and next tove kin, but it's also friends, schools,
you know, first responders, anyone who's been impacted by the
death we provide direct support to people, so when there

(07:14):
has been a death, we will you know, attend their
home and support them face to face. We offer free
the reevement counseling for up to two years. We offer
peer support, and we can link people in with things
like support groups and any additional support they might need.

Speaker 1 (07:28):
Tell us how important is it for people to either
reach out or in what ways can they get support?
But yeah, how important is it for them to kind
of be accessing those services that you're offering.

Speaker 6 (07:40):
Well, look, it's really important when there's a suicide death.
Up to about one hundred and thirty five people can
be impacted by that death. Because we see suicide, I
guess it's the ripple effect that goes out into a
community and it's incredibly important, which is why the government
funds post mention because they recognize I guess that you know, people,
people who've lost their loved one might come to the

(08:03):
point where they don't want to live anymore without their
loved one as well, because it is it's heart wrenching
and tragic and horrendous to lose someone to suicide, and
so post mention is funded because it's part of that
prevention cycle, and it's incredibly important to reach out and

(08:24):
get support so that you're not going through this horrible
situation alone. You're supported by people who've been on this
journey before.

Speaker 1 (08:31):
How can people on the South coast get support and
reach out for those as you mentioned those postvention program supports.

Speaker 6 (08:38):
So it's really easy. So we work quite closely with
police and anyone you know in the health sector. So
hopefully someone would make a referral on a family member's behalf,
but if they were uncomfortable with that, they can bring
our phone number which is thirteen hundred seven two seven
two four seven, which is free and there's trained people
on the phone. And also if we just have direct consent,

(09:01):
so you know, if you had a friend that lost
someone a suicide and you say, hey, mate, is it
all right if I pass on your numbers to stand by?
That is global consent and that's good enough.

Speaker 1 (09:11):
And just if you're happy to as well. Karen, can
you talk a little bit about your personal experience with
your dad and I guess you know after that time
what services you were either looking for or in need of.

Speaker 6 (09:24):
Yeah, so I lost my dad about seven years ago
to suicide. I was about twenty four at the time,
so it was actually devastating. I've not had any alignment
with mental health in my life at all, and I
didn't understand where he's been at and what happened. And
in terms of support at the time, stand By had

(09:46):
it rolled out across New South Wales and I remember
googling them actually and they had a whole bunch of
different resources online which I used, but locally the resources
were very limited, and I actually reached out to Bigger
Valley Span in the end, the Source Prevention Action Network,
and they sort of linked to me here with graand
Pacific Health System Counseling, which was really helpful. And so

(10:08):
luckily stand By has been able to roll out across
that business south wells Now and now we're able to
take a more of a role in that space. But yeah,
I'd definitely found counseling to be useful and talking to
people from SPAM who had lost their loved ones to
suicide as well, that intentional sort of peer relationship was
really helpful, and so stand By offers peer support for

(10:30):
that reason because it's you know, people that get it
talking about how they got through that horrible time. It
can be any period of time after a loss, so
it could be twenty years down the track and you're still,
you know, impacted by a death. We will still absolutely
support you and yeah, just reach out. We're here to talk.

Speaker 1 (10:48):
You can call stand by Support after suicide on one
three hundred seven two seven two four seven between six
am and ten pm. And as we mentioned at the
top of this episode, Lifeline is a twenty four to
seven service available on one three double one one four.
Should our conversations have raised any issues for you or
someone you know who may be struggling, We'll wrap up

(11:10):
this episode with more from Bateman's Bay mum Dianne Griffin,
and her hope that young people in particular don't stay silent.
Speak up. If you're feeling troubled because you are somebody
someone and you are not alone.

Speaker 3 (11:25):
Reach out, not necessarily to the kids around you that
are the same age because they don't have life experience
or don't always recognize that something more here is going
on than I think I can handle as just a friend,
As just a confidant. It's great to confide because it

(11:45):
can make you feel not so alone because you get
that person then saying back to you, oh, yes, I've
felt this and I've done that, and I you know
this is going on for me too, and you empathize
with each other in that moment, but you don't always
have answers or solutions. I think it would be great
if kids felt that there was somewhere that was really

(12:05):
for them, that they could really go to, and that
doesn't mean a counseling room in the middle of the
school where everybody's going to see that they go in
and then from then on their labeleders having mental health
or whatever is. You know, kids can be cruel. They
don't always intend for the damage that they do, but
it does do damage. So I think, you know, for

(12:27):
kids to know that there are adults who have lived
their situation who don't necessarily want to push their experience
onto them, but are prepared to listen and hear them,
and it's important for us to validate how they feel.

Speaker 2 (12:49):
I Heart Fast South Coast