An Cosantóir

29 HEAD SPACE & TIMING In this issue I would like to talk about to you about suicide. I know that it is not an easy word for us to hear or to say and at some level, we have all encountered it in our lives. We may have lost a friend, a family member, or a colleague, or we may even have experienced thoughts of suicide ourselves in times of crisis. And I know that sometimes we need to allow time and space and the proper care and attention to heal us and to help us to recover from an experience of suicide, at whatever level. So why then do we need to talk about it at all? Why can't we just leave it alone and hope that it never affects us? Well, all the research shows us, that being more open about suicide, being willing to talk about it to our friends, our work colleagues, and our family, can be important in a meaningful way, for people who are struggling to seek help and to stay safe. I have a simple objective over the next few paragraphs – I would like to introduce you to the conversation of suicide, and to show you some of the training that is available for all of us to help each other to stay well and to stay safe. The National Office for Suicide Prevention and our national strategy: The National Office for Suicide Prevention (NOSP) provides strategic leadership in Ireland in suicide prevention and is responsible for guiding the implementation of Connecting for Life, our national strategy for suicide awareness and prevention. Through NOSP, the Defence Forces has been able to access key training activities in suicide prevention, which are outlined below. The courses are provided by an American company called LivingWorks, and each one is available to all of our citizens to complete. The START programme: The START programme is an online resource that is easy to access. It is a simple interactive training programme that you can complete by yourself in the comfort of your own home. It aims to give you the knowledge and the skills to identify people who might be vulnerable to suicide and to intervene to keep them safe. START uses a mix of guided online content supported by video, and interactive questions and engagement. On average, you should be able to complete the training in about half an hour, but you are able to go as fast or as slow as you want. HEAD SPACE & TIMING By Lt Col John Martin

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