Communicating about suicide

Communicating about suicide

Communication about suicide needs to be done in a manner that is safe, carefully considered and includes help services and information for people to access should they need it. Evidence indicates that people are more likely to seek help when appropriate services are included in communications referencing suicide or self-harm.

People with lived experience of suicide may be particularly impacted by language. There are dedicated resources about preferred language that you or your organisation can use when talking about suicide. Please refer to the below guidelines to support safe and effective communication. 

• Mindframe: Mindframe supports safe media reporting, portrayal and communication about suicide, mental ill-health, alcohol and other drugs.
• Conversationsmatter.org.au: Conversations Matter is a suite of online resources developed to support community discussion about suicide.
• National Communications Charter: The National Communications Charter (The Charter) is an evidence-informed resource to guide the way mental health and suicide prevention sectors, government, business and community members talk about mental health concerns and suicide.

Accurate data on suicide and suicidality is important in understanding impacts on individuals, families, and communities, and to identify where additional supports may be needed. Knowing the facts about suicide is important to debunk myths about suicide. Sensitive, evidence-based communication plays an important role in reducing stigma. Decreasing stigma, fear, and misinformation around suicide may increase an individual’s likelihood of seeking help if they need it or offering support to others. 

For more information on suicide and self-harm monitoring, please visit the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. Please note that data alone does not tell the full story about suicide and the impacts on Tasmanians.

Suicide arises from a complex interaction between potential vulnerabilities, risk factors and stressors in a person’s life. Suicide can also be influenced by social and economic circumstances, pressures, and expectations. 

Suicide prevention best practice

Thoughts of suicide can happen to anyone regardless of whether or not they have a mental illness. While people living with a mental illness are at increased risk of suicide, the relationship is complex. People who have never experienced a diagnosed mental illness can experience suicidal thoughts.

Whilst deaths by suicide are statistically uncommon, the impact of every death is uniquely, deeply, and widely felt. For each suicide death, up to 135 people are affected (1). This means that almost every Tasmanian will be touched in some way by suicide over the course of their life.

Whilst there are contributing factors that may contribute to suicide and suicidal ideation, there are also many protective factors (2) which help strengthen the resilience of individuals and communities against these risk factors. It is important to remember that the presence of one or more of these contributing factors cannot predict or explain suicide or intentional self-harm as each person’s experience is unique. Experiencing any of these risk factors does not necessarily mean a person has—or ever will—attempt suicide, but establishing whether a person has any of these risk factors can help determine whether they are at increased risk. Also, some people will have suicidal thoughts without having a history of any risk factors.

Protective factors include: 

Individual Protective Factors

These personal factors protect against suicide risk:

• effective coping and problem-solving skills
• reasons for living (for example, family, friends, pets, etc.)
• strong sense of cultural identity.

Relationship Protective Factors

These healthy relationship experiences protect against suicide risk:

• support from partners, friends, and family
• feeling connected to others.

Community Protective Factors

These supportive community experiences protect against suicide risk:

• feeling connected to school, community, and other social institutions
• availability of consistent and high quality physical and behavioural healthcare.

Societal Protective Factors:

These cultural and environmental factors within the larger society protect against suicide risk:

• reduced access to lethal means of suicide among people at risk
• cultural, religious, or moral objections to suicide.

The Tasmanian Suicide Prevention Strategy 2023–2027 (TSPS) works across government, services and community to embed evidence-informed initiatives and approaches to increase protective factors across the lifespan of people living in Tasmania to strengthen communities and prevent suicide.