Expert calls for people to ‘show up’ for those struggling with trauma, suicidal thoughts
Published:Thursday | September 12, 2024 | 12:09 AMAsha Wilks/Gleaner Writer
Dr Roger Ball, a social work administrator and lecturer on trauma intervention and suicide prevention, is asserting that “showing up” for people who have experienced trauma, struggle with suicidal thoughts, or have attempted suicide is an important first step in assisting them in their healing and recovery.
Addressing a Choose Life International 16th World Suicide Prevention Day Seminar 2024 on Tuesday at the Terra Nova All Suite Hotel in St Andrew, Ball stated that suicide was a global issue that was not restricted by a person’s socio-economic status.
“Suicide cuts across gender, cuts across geography, cuts across religion ... none of us are immune from sadness, none of us are immune from life ... all the things of life, we are all subjected to them,” he added.
The event was held in observance of World Suicide Prevention Day, which was being held under the theme ‘Changing the Narratives on Suicide’, with the call to action, ‘Start the Conversation’.
According to Ball, trauma is defined by the Three E’s: the event, the experience and the effect or outcome.
He recounted a personal incident in which he was involved in an accident with an 18-wheel trailer while travelling in New York.
“The car was banged up, I was banged up ... it was a mess,” he said.
“The event is the accident; the experience of course is that I’m pretty banged up. I made one phone call to home – and those who suffer must be able to call home, a big part of trauma suicide prevention is to be able to call home,” he said.
He continued that, while in the hospital, his one phone call to home appeared to have “emptied out” the boroughs of Bronx, NY and West Chester, Pennsylvania, as people filled out the hospital’s waiting room to offer their support.
“Members of my congregation, my wife, my brothers, my sisters, my in-laws, they came for me ... and as we talk about trauma-informed practices, what we talk about ... is that we show up,” he said, and how you respond to disrupt the narrative that the person tells themselves.
“When we talk about recovery, for example, it is how we show up for those who are suffering,” Ball added, further noting that experiencing trauma can increase the risk of suicide.
He stated that trauma disrupts one’s personal narrative such as “I can do all things, I can go all places, I can become anything in the world” because “when there is trauma it interrupts or interferes with our sense of self, our embodied self, [and] how safe we believe the world is”.
Ball, who works as the supervisor of social works for the Bronx borough in the New York City Public School System’s (NYCPS) Office of Safety and Youth Development, went on to emphasise the trauma-informed strategy developed by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), which is based on the Four Rs: understanding trauma and its effects on individuals, identifying the indications of trauma, having a mechanism in place to respond to trauma, and avoiding re-traumatisation.
He added that this required for people to “get close” to one another so that they can play their part in assisting people affected by trauma and suicidal ideation.
In her presentation on global trends in suicidality, grief and trauma, therapist Dr Grace Kelly stated that one suicide occurs every 40 seconds and that suicide is very prevalent worldwide.
She stated that 20 to 30 people commit suicide per 100,000 individuals in Europe, which is the continent most afflicted by suicides.
Over a five- to 10-year period, the average yearly incidence of suicide in Jamaica is two per 100,000 individuals.
Global data indicates that young people aged 15 to 29 years old are most likely to end their lives and that 77 per cent of global suicides occurred among low- and middle-income countries and families.
Kelly further noted that some of the major causes of individuals seeking to end their lives were relationship issues, mental health disorders, financial struggles, social isolation, cultural and societal pressures, access to lethal substances, sextortion and the impact of COVID-19.
According to statistics from the Planning Institute of Jamaica’s Economic and Social Survey Jamaica, 64 people committed suicide in 2022, up from 51 the previous year.
Persons needing help can reach out to the Ministry of Health and Wellness at its 24-hour mental health and suicide prevention helpline at 888-NEW-LIFE (888-639-5433).