Today is World Suicide Prevention Day and we would like to share our 3R’s and the importance of recognising signs of a suicide or another mental health issue in a colleague or a friend. We have been working with companies and organisations for many years and it has brought us closer to creating this programme for the managers and the leaders of the teams.
We need to recognise the wellbeing of our employees and put it at the forefront – ensuring that our business strategy includes an emotional and mental health programme.
Here are the 3R’s we have designed that will help:
RECOGNISE – learn to recognise emotional ill-health and how their potential presence can be identified.
RESPOND – the more prepared we are to understand how emotional ill-health conditions and crisis situations may present themselves at work the more likely we are to remain calm and supportive towards our colleagues when responding to their needs.
When speaking about suicide, we need to engage, ask direct questions, stay with the person guide them towards the resources available and seek medical assistance immediately, if they have taken any actions.
RECOVER – there are a wide range of supports and resources available that we can highlight and bring to the attention of a colleague whom we believe is suffering from emotional ill-health in order to aid their recovery.
Suicide prevention starts with recognising the warning signs and always taking them seriously.