Serious Course Aims
To increase confidence in the workforce in dealing with suicide in relation to children and young people
To reduce the stigma surrounding suicide
To enable professionals to spot a young person in distress and know how to respond
To support professionals to have conversations with children about suicide
About the programme
Although a young person may have indicated to you that they want to end their life, most of the time this is not because they want to die. Rather, it is often because they want the painful emotions that they are experiencing to stop. We can say that suicide is a permanent solution to a temporary problem.
Suicide exists on a continuum from experiencing fleeting thoughts of suicide right through to attempting suicide and completing suicide. Although these feelings may gradually increase over-time, research conducted by Professor Rory O’Connor (University of Glasgow), suggests that often a young person will experience these feelings in a cyclical pattern. So we can never just assume that because someone is doing well today, they won’t be at risk tomorrow.
The key to the Serious course is to train delegates to ASK children and young people whether they have been feeling suicidal.
How will the programme work?
The course has been developed to train delegates to:
S – Spot the Signs of a child or young person in distress
E – Ensure that they ASK about suicide
R – Respond using the tools provided in the training
I – Inform others that can help
O – Observe to watch out for relapses
US – look after themselves