Delegates have come together to exchange ideas on how suicides in Australia could be halved over the next 10 years.
After losing her 19-year-old brother Aidon to suicide, Lauren Breen started an organisation focused on reaching out to young people in crisis, especially through social media.
“The Aidon Project I created six years ago after my brother passed away by suicide, I used it as a communication tool to raise awareness about suicide prevention and mental health in general,” she said.
The organisation has grown and is focused on reaching young people through social media.
Ms Breen said while phone counselling was hugely important in preventing suicide, her brother “would never have called Lifeline, he was a 19-year-old boy”.
“I think one of the gaps is looking at opportunities and ways to engage with people who are now using new technologies so Twitter, Facebook, Periscope, Instagram – these types of social media – and the forums that people are now starting to actively engage in,” she said.
Ms Breen said she would like to see more research in the area to help improve prevention methods.
“Getting some information back as to how people are utilising these services and social media streams, and how we can use that to raise awareness of suicide prevention,” she said.
How do we take care of our [social media] users in a way that balances between privacy as well as being able to help people?
Dr Dequincy Lezine
Alan Woodward from Lifeline’s Research Foundation agreed.
Lifeline has witnessed major growth in its online chat service and it too is grappling with social media and the best way to deal with suicide disclosures made online.
“They may make a disclosure about feeling suicidal in one of the social media sites, so the intersection then with the support services that we’re offering through the technology is a growth area for sure,” he said.
“We could do more to better support people who are making those disclosures and put them in touch with other services that can help.”
Social media companies helping with prevention
Twenty years ago doctor Dequincy Lezine made an attempt on his own life.
He is now a suicide prevention leader in the United States running an organisation called Prevention Communities.
“It’s a different kind of connection when people know you’ve had that experience yourself and you can connect on that emotional level,” he said.
Dr Lezine praised the recent collaboration in the US between companies like Facebook and Twitter with suicide prevention groups.
“A number of those groups in the social media world are getting engaged with the people who are doing suicide prevention to try to figure out how we take care of the people who are posting on our sites,” he said.
“How do we take care of our users in a way that balances between privacy as well as being able to help people?”