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'#PoetryHelps Video 4: Suicide Awareness and Prevention’ a Poem by Caroline Burrows @VerseCycle for Glenside Hospital Museum, and Bristol Festival of Ideas. #WSPD
What if someone tells you they’re making plans towards action,
That they’ve been thinking about how to die by suicide,
This needs an urgent lifesaving conversation.

Make a different plan; together you can decide,
To phone a GP or 111 for an urgent appointment,
Or go to A&E to get help which they can provide.

A mental health nurse might make an assessment,
Home support could be provided in the community,
Through a referral to Crisis Team management.

One survivor was visited or phoned daily,
He said that someone checking in with him regularly,
Meant he could express his thoughts with someone openly.

Crisis Teams can make referrals to things like D.B.T.,
It’s designed to find ways to cope with intense emotions:
It’s short for: Dialectical Behaviour Therapy.

It teaches emotion regulation in skills sessions,
About considering things in different ways,
And how to help manage crisis situations.

One survivor found DBT too intense on her first day,
She hated the word ‘mindfulness’, and wasn’t sure she’d stay,
But she tried all the techniques, and some worked for her okay.

If someone doesn’t feel safe at home, they can ask to stay,
With more support in one of the Crisis Houses,
Usually, these are for a set amount of days.

Some Crisis Houses run residential courses,
With a focus on therapy, skills and self-care,
The aim’s to get people back home safe with these resources.

Moderated social networks are a safe space to share:
Togetherall and Elefriends are useful additions,
People can listen and support each other there.

What do you do if someone is taking action,
With the intention to die; or if they’ve self-harmed;
This is an emergency situation.

If you’re with them, stay with them, and try to stay calm,
Ask what they’ve done; they’re doing; have they taken anything?
Take them to A&E, or call 999, about this have no qualms.

When someone’s suicidal, it can be confusing,
But if they’re accepting help, that is a good sign,
Even if it’s in an A&E hospital setting.

The hospital will treat the emergency at that time,
Crisis Teams and GPs are preferred follow-up actions,
Sectioning’s sometimes used when help and treatments are declined.

One indirect positive from hospital admissions:
Anonymised records go in a self-harm register,
Which helps keep services funded for suicide interventions.

A common message came from this suicide survivor,
She said ask for help; there is always more than one option,
That mental health’s not easy, but help makes it easier;
And talk about suicide awareness and prevention.

Resources
• CBT/Cognitive Behaviour Therapy: www.nhs.uk/conditions/cognitive-behavioural-therapy-cbt
• Crisis House: https://www.mind.org.uk/information-s...
• Depressive Illness: The Curse of the Strong by Tim Cantopher:   / depressive-illness  
• DBT/Dialectical Behaviour Therapy: https://www.mind.org.uk/information-s...
• Elefriends, peer-to-peer online community, by Mind: https://www.elefriends.org.uk/
• Golden Key in Bristol, helping people with mental health needs combined with complex matters: https://www.goldenkeybristol.org.uk/c...
• Mind, mental health charity list of resources : https://www.mind.org.uk/
• National Suicide Prevention Alliance: https://www.nspa.org.uk/
• NHS Mental Health Apps list: https://www.nhs.uk/apps-library/categ...
• Hub of Hope, listing services open now in your area. Website & app: https://hubofhope.co.uk/
• NHS help for mental health crises: https://www.nhs.uk/using-the-nhs/nhs-...
• Papyrus, Suicide Prevention for under thirty-fives: https://papyrus-uk.org/
• Richmond Fellowship Crisis House Cumbria: North West England, alternative to hospital psychiatric care: https://www.richmondfellowship.org.uk...
• Samaritans, a listening helpline: www.samaritans.org/
• Second Step: Housing initiative for people with mental health problems in Bristol, Bath, Somerset, & North Somerset: https://www.second-step.co.uk
• Stepping Out Theatre, Bristol mental health based theatre company: https://www.steppingouttheatre.co.uk/
• TogetherAll, moderated peer-to-peer online community, approved by NHS: https://togetherall.com/en-gb/
• Zero Suicide Alliance: Free video courses on lifesaving conversatiosn: https://www.zerosuicidealliance.com/

Caroline Burrows @VerseCycle is a published writer of poetry, prose: fiction and non-fiction. More @VerseCycle on YouTube/Facebook/Twitter/IG.
Copyright © 2020 Caroline Burrows.
#BristolFestivalOfIdeas #GlensideHospitalMuseum #WSPD #SuicidePrevention #VerseCycle #CarolineBurrows