|
Guest Speaker Report Wednesday 13 April 2011 by Rotarian Ian Johnson (reporter) Our guest speaker was fellow member Suzanne Freund who spoke about “Suicide, Mental Health and Rotary”. Suzanne was introduced by President Peter. Suzanne is a unit coordinator with the Wesley Mission in the city and trains people in suicide prevention. With Australian Rotary Health (ARH) currently focusing on mental health issues Suzanne has become a District Committee member for ARH. Suzanne is hoping to convince ARH to allocate funds to suicide prevention as she sees this as a neglected area of mental health. Suzanne advised us that there were on average seven suicides per day in Australia. She also informed us that 80% of these people will indicate to someone that they are contemplating suicide. Suzanne is of the view that suicide is such a big problem that it must be openly discussed so that active measures can be taken to reduce the number of people attempting suicide in Australia. Suzanne told us of the small town of Sheffield in Tasmania where there had been five suicides over a short period of time. The town leaders realized something had to be done. They encouraged residents to attend a one day educational program. The residents were trained to recognize suicidal behaviour and how to react to help that person. This strategy proved to be very effective in Sheffield. Suzanne advised us that in Australia in 2008 there were 2,191 suicides. She also advised us that non-fatal suicide attempts were 40 to 100 times the number of suicides. Suzanne believes that inroads can be made into this significant mental health issue by training people to recognize indicators of suicidal behaviour and to know what they can do to help. In conclusion Suzanne stated that she seeks our support to convince ARH that this is an area that is deserving of funding. Suzanne was thanked by President Peter. |