Summary
The Glasgow City Suicide Prevention Partnership collaborates with outside agencies and the wider community to work towards raising suicide awareness, intervention and prevention.
Making A Difference
For a real-life look into the importance of suicide prevention, read the stories of Derek and Adriana below. Glasgow City Council also recently received the LivingWorks Suicide-Safer Community award, and more than 1000 people received Suicide Prevention training from Glasgow HSCP last year.
In 2020, Scotland lost 805 people to suicide. Of these 805 people, just under three-quarters were male, and between the years 2016-2020 the suicide rate of those living in poverty was three and a half times higher than those living in Scotland’s least deprived areas.
In order try and reduce Glasgow’s frequency of suicide deaths, Glasgow City Council has established the Glasgow City Suicide Prevention Partnership (GCSPP), composed from numerous partners including Education Services and Police Scotland. This partnership aims to make Glasgow a ‘Suicide Safer Community’ by collaborating with outside agencies and the wider community, working toward the awareness, intervention and prevention of suicide. By raising suicide as a public health issue, the GCSPP hopes this will allow members of the community to access provisions and information available on the prevention of suicide.
Derek’s Story
As a divorced father of three and struggling with alcohol and substance abuse, Derek thought suicide was his only option. He not only had suicidal thoughts but had rehearsed a plan in his mind and unfortunately, took action. Luckily Derek survived, and this experience brought along the realisation that he desperately needed help.
MindTheMen is a group set up by Gary Macdonald who lost his cousin to suicide.
This group is a confidential and free peer-to-peer support network for men of all ages and walks of life, where they can meet and offer support to one another without any judgement or fear of stigmatisation. Those who work with this group receive suicide prevention training and encourage those in need of immediate urgent help to seek it out.
Eight years later, Derek is now married again and uses his personal experience to help others who are, like he was, struggling with their mental health, explaining that:
“There is a lot of toxic masculinity in society today, which suggests big boys don’t cry or it’s weak to admit you need help. That’s utter rubbish and it’s costing lives. We have a phrase that’s been used more and more at MindTheMen, it’s very simple and very powerful – It’s Not Weak to Speak”.
Adriana’s Story
Adriana lost her father to suicide when she was an infant, and learned the truth of her father’s passing at age 10. Throughout her adolescent and adult life, she has struggled with her emotional wellbeing and has been on anti-depressant medication for 20 years. Living alone during the pandemic caused the 42-year old swing dancer, although remaining positive, to realise the daily work and effort that goes in to maintaining good mental health.
She recalls attempting to talk with her mother about mental health struggles and suicide, but the emotional strain that her father’s death put on her mother and subsequently Adrianna’s upbring meant that it was never an easy topic to discuss. Over the many years of living with mental health struggles, Adrianna developed an eating disorder, issues with expressing her sexual identity and an inability to feel content despite many wonderful life experiences
Adriana looked for support and with medication, counselling, therapy and her own personal studies, she has overcome her eating disorder and can recognise negative thought and behaviour patterns. This has not only allowed her to maintain a healthy weight but also take proactive, positive steps to improve her mental health:
“I’m waking up and realising I don’t have to be afraid of this. My life experience has been a huge educator for me and I can use it to support other people. I’ve been helped by lots of people including my GP, Lifelink and Glasgow’s mental health team. I want to support other people now”.
Glasgow City Council has received the Suicide-Safer Community award by LivingWorks as recognition for the amount of work dedicated to those struggling with mental health and suicidal thoughts in Glasgow, by those in the employment and volunteering sectors.
People like Derek and Adriana are fighting the stigma that still surrounds suicide and mental health through groups like MindTheMen and other mental health charities. As a ‘Suicide Safe Community’, people must feel like they can reach out for support and receive it without any shame or judgment from others.
Safe Community’, people must feel like they can reach out for support and receive it without any shame or judgment from others.
*If you or anyone close to you is struggling with issues of suicide, please seek help, either from your GP, the Samaritans (call free on 116 123 or by email at jo@samaritans.org) or from Breathing Space (call free on 0800 83 85 87).
Glasgow’s Health and Social Care Partnership also runs an out-of-hours Mental Health crisis service. It can provide short-term intensive community-based care and is targeted at people who are experiencing a mental health crisis. It operates seven days a week and is available by phone on 0845 650 1730, Monday to Friday 8pm – 9am, weekends and public holidays 5pm – 9am.
More than 1,000 people received Suicide Prevention training from Glasgow’s Health & Social Care Partnership last year.
Find out more about Suicide Prevention training and sources of help for anyone struggling at https://www.yoursupportglasgow.org/chooselife.aspx
If you are having serious thoughts about suicide, and have a plan and the means to carry it out: call 999 immediately.
