Preventing suicide job for mates

Taranaki is perfectly placed to make progress in suicide prevention, a visiting American psychologist says.

"The person most likely to prevent you from dying by suicide is someone you already know," Dr Paul Quinnett told an audience of about 60 in New Plymouth yesterday.

"We need to make sure they have the tools to provide assistance."

In New Zealand, suicide is the sixth most common cause of death, with 500 people killing themselves every year.

"In a place like Taranaki, where there are only two degrees of separation between any two people, you are in the perfect position to make changes and make something happen."

Dr Quinnett, clinical assistant professor of psychiatry at the University of Washington, said suicide prevention training needed to be made available to as many people as possible.

In 1995, he created an emergency mental health intervention strategy which goes beyond just recognising the warning signs and is taught by the QPR Institute, of which he is chairman.

"You need to question the person about how they are feeling, persuade them to seek help and refer them to a professional," Dr Quinnett said.

"Those most at risk are the least likely to come forward and ask for help and if we continue to require that, they will continue to die."

In New Zealand, those most at risk include men and Maori youth and their aversion to seeking help made training their friends and family that much more important.

"Effective, accessible, competent care could save thousands of lives and billions of dollars but we all need to take responsibility for those who need it getting that care," Dr Quinnett said.

The QPR Institute trains 10,000 people a month in the Question, Persuade, Refer strategy through online and in-person courses.

"Each of those people will have an average of five conversations with people who have not been trained," Dr Quinnett said.

"That's 50,000 people a month learning the tools to help prevent suicide."

- © Fairfax NZ News