Changing the Narrative on Suicide
By Paul Howarth, Research & Innovation Director
Over the last 18 months our work at Akumen, looking deeply into cases of suicide, has changed the way we think about these events.
You might imagine that the more evidence there is, the clearer the picture becomes, but all too often it does not.
Whether there are 20 pages, 100 pages or 1,000 pages of evidence, there can still be huge complexity, ambiguity and unanswered questions.
Every life is different, every set of circumstances is different, and yet, when we start to look across many cases, patterns do begin to emerge.
That is where much of our work is focused, trying to understand those patterns, find the learning within them and make sense of what is otherwise incredibly complex human experience.
This year’s World Suicide Prevention Day theme is Changing the Narrative on Suicide, with the call to action Start the Conversation.
That has made us think a lot about what changing the narrative actually means.
One of the patterns we see in the coroner’s data is an old idea of strength that is still very much with us.
Be strong.
Cope.
Keep going.
Do not burden other people.
Do not show too much emotion.
Do not be vulnerable.
It is something I recognise very personally. I recently wrote a short piece called 'Just Be. Just Be There.' It reflects on my father’s generation and what strength meant to him. Take charge, Protect everyone, Keep your emotions in, Do not cry, Be the person everyone else can rely on.
That way of thinking belonged very much to his generation but it has not gone away.
We still see it today and we are seeing traces of it in the stories contained within the data.
People trying to cope.
People keeping things to themselves.
People not wanting to worry others.
People carrying far more than those around them may have realised.
Perhaps that is one of the narratives we need to change.
Strength does not have to mean silence.
Strength can mean saying that things are difficult.
It can mean showing emotion.
It can mean being vulnerable.
Changing the narrative is not only about encouraging somebody who is struggling to talk.
It is also about the rest of us becoming people it feels safe to talk to.
Someone who listens.
Someone who tries to understand.
Someone who does not judge.
Someone who does not feel the need to fix everything.
Someone who can show a little of their own vulnerability too.
Someone who is simply there.
Behind every suicide is a person.
Around that person are family, friends, neighbours, colleagues and professionals whose lives may also have been changed forever.
Our thoughts and our hearts go out to everyone whose life has been touched by suicide, and to those carrying the loss, the questions and the impact that can remain long afterwards.
The work is difficult, but it is work with enormous purpose.
Perhaps changing the narrative starts with changing what we think strength looks like.
Be brave enough to be vulnerable. Be safe enough to listen. Just be there.
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