Hong Kong groups issue pamphlet to help friends and family spot suicide risks
Joint initiative provides advice on identifying people at risk and getting them help they need
“I am worried about you because you look sad ... Do you want to talk? Is there any way I can help?”
Starting a conversation with someone facing emotional issues or with suicidal tendencies might be difficult, so researchers, a leading social networking site and youth and suicide prevention groups have come up with pointers for those who want to broach the sensitive subject with the vulnerable.
The suggestions can be found in a pamphlet released on Wednesday as part of a joint initiative by the University of Hong Kong’s Centre for Suicide Research and Prevention, Facebook, the Hong Kong Federation of Youth Groups, Save the Children Hong Kong and the Samaritans.
According to the latest findings by the centre on student suicide cases between September 2013 and April 2016, about 30 per cent of the deceased had been diagnosed with psychiatric problems and about 26 per cent had made suicide-related posts online or such searches. But less than 9 per cent of them were known to social services for their problems.
“The stigma against those with mental problems has caused the emotionally distressed to refrain from seeking professional help,” the centre’s director, Professor Paul Yip Siu-fai, said.
May Ly, a project consultant at the Samaritans, pointed out that when young people deal with problems, they often prefer talking to their friends who they find more trustworthy and easier to talk to.