A new ‘Gateway Module’ to the Zero Suicide Alliance’s (ZSA) award-winning suicide awareness training has been launched as part of Mental Health Awareness Week (MHAW).
Designed to act as a condensed introduction to the full ZSA training, which takes around 20 minutes to complete, the module will be available via their website and introduces the skills required to help those with suicidal thoughts.
The new module takes around 10 minutes to complete and is particularly relevant to this year’s theme of ‘kindness’ for MHAW as many people struggle with the mental health impact of the coronavirus lockdown.
Joe Rafferty, chairman of the ZSA, said: “We probably won’t know the true impact of the last few weeks and months on society until it’s all over, but we do know that many more people are admitting to struggling with their mental health since the lockdown began.”
“This shortened version of the training provides a great starting point to the skills required to help those who might be struggling and a refresher for those who have already taken the longer version of the training.”
“This training is designed to break the myth that if you talk to people about suicide they are more likely to try and complete it. All the evidence shows that if you talk to people in the right way, empathetically and with interest about suicide, you decrease the chance of them attempting it.”
Since being launched in November 2017, over three quarters of a million people have taken the training. The ZSA also won five national awards its promotion in 2019.
You can access the training on our website.