Young people and their families have teamed up with youth mental health providers and researchers to deliver a report which tackles youth suicide in WA.
Recommendations from a new multi-agency report that provides a comprehensive look at youth suicide in Western Australia highlight the importance of involving young people in the conversation to help reduce the number of young lives lost to suicide.
The report – Informing youth suicide prevention for Western Australia – provides a current overview of youth suicide in WA, including an outline of what is effective in reducing youth suicide, gaps in current prevention approaches, and recommended strategies for reducing youth suicide.
The collaboration involved the Telethon Kids Institute, the Commissioner for Children and Young People, Mercy Care, Mission Australia, WA Primary Health Alliance, Youth Focus, and Youth Mental Health, North Metropolitan Mental Health Service.
Embrace @ Telethon Kids
At Telethon Kids, researchers within Embrace – WA’s first research centre devoted to the mental health of children and young people – led the report, which was discussed with State Government representatives and presented in late 2019 to the committee developing the next WA suicide prevention action plan.
Embrace project manager and report lead author, Jacinta Freeman, said the project had aimed to provide a report that would inform a youth suicide prevention framework in WA.
“Sadly, suicide is the leading cause of death for people aged 15–24 in WA, but despite significant investment in funding for suicide prevention, in 2018 the state recorded its highest suicide rate in more than 20 years,” Ms Freeman said.
“Recommendations from this report demonstrate that a coordinated, comprehensive and whole-of-government approach is required if WA is to make significant in-roads into reducing the number of young people dying by suicide.”
Ms Freeman said empowering young people by listening to them and including them in the conversation was crucial.
Fifty-five young people from diverse backgrounds and with experiences of marginalisation (justice involvement, homelessness, refugee background and child protection systems) participated in the project.
“Young people were asked to describe how they find support for their mental health concerns, including suicidal thoughts, and were also given the opportunity to discuss the barriers and challenges for seeking mental health support,” Ms Freeman said.
“Many of the young people I spoke to had experienced much adversity, and their willingness to share their stories and experiences is a testament to their resilience, bravery and desire to see changes that will benefit others and reduce the number of young people ending their life by suicide.”
Ashleah's story
After several attempts to end her life, Ashleah is finally getting the help she needs.
Ashleah’s description of how she felt when she was at her lowest ebb makes for stark listening.
“I felt like I was completely worthless, that everyone would be better off if I wasn’t here — I couldn’t see the light at the end of the tunnel,” she said. “I found myself crying a lot and didn’t know what was wrong, I didn’t know why I was having these negative thoughts.”
In search of help, she bounced around from psychologist to psychiatrist to counsellor, but it was nearly six years before she found what worked for her. “You’re so over telling your story,” she said. “It took me a long time to find the right person.”
Embrace youth mental health researcher Dr Yael Perry said there was no one-size-fits-all solution for mental health or for suicide. “This is absolutely urgent, we need to make changes immediately so that no more young lives are lost,” Dr Perry said. “We’re going to save lives by translating research into action. Our aim is to save lives and to save lives now.”
Ashleah said she didn’t want any young person to experience the same thing as she did. “I don’t want it to be a six-year journey for someone else,” she said. “I want it to be that they find someone who’s going to help them. Hold on and have hope that things are going to get better, and don’t end your story before it even begins, because mine’s only just beginning.”
What's next?
- The team will trial safeTALK, a program for young people experiencing homelessness
- Embrace has invested in talented early career researchers to further develop suicide prevention research in WA. Two Research Fellows in Youth Suicide Prevention, Penelope Strauss and Nicole Hill, have recently been appointed. Ms Hill will focus on population-based suicide prevention and exploring the impact of ‘suicide contagion’, while Ms Strauss will work primarily on targeted suicide prevention for high-risk populations.