More than 80 per cent of Australians visit a GP every year and general practice plays a critical role in addressing mental health issues and suicide prevention especially in rural and remote settings, according to The Royal Australian College of General Practitioners.
“Visiting a GP is often seen as a safe place for people who might be experiencing suicidal thoughts where they can have this important conversation and seek support,” RACGP Vice-President and Chair of the General Practice Mental Health Standards Collaboration (GPMHSC),” Dr Morton Rawlin said.
“In rural and remote settings a GP may be the only health professional available to support patients who might be at risk of suicide.”
Suicide prevention is the focus this week of the campaigns ‘R U OK?’ Day; ‘Men, let’s talk when things get tough by Movember’, and World Suicide Prevention Day. Suicide is the leading cause of death for Australians aged 15-44 years and mental illness is one of the key risk factors.
“Encouraging discussion, asking people if they’re ok and promoting suicide prevention activities is at the heart of suicide prevention and will help increase community awareness,” Dr Rawlin said.
In 2014 50 people per week or 7 people per day took their life to suicide in Australia.
Committed to ensuring GPs are equipped to tackle the disturbing rise of suicide in Australia, the GPMHSC strives to achieve optimal mental health for the community by providing high-quality GP education and training in mental health and suicide prevention.
As well as accrediting a variety of mental health training programs for GPs, the GPMHSC has developed new resources for GPs focussing on suicide prevention and postvention in primary care. These resources complement formal training for GPs.
Lifeline Australia estimates that 1000 people think about suicide every day nationwide, 250 people make a suicide plan, and 200 people attempt suicide, equating to one attempt every 10 minutes.
Anyone who needs help with their mental health should contact their GP. Alternatively Lifeline will help anyone thinking about suicide or experiencing a personal crisis. Help is available at https://www.lifeline.org.au/ or by calling 13 11 14 24 hours a day.
To view the new GPMHSC suicide prevention resources visit www.gpmhsc.org.au.
For information about ‘R U OK?’ Day, ‘Men, let’s talk when things get tough by Movember’ and World Suicide Prevention Day visit:
https://www.ruok.org.au/
https://au.movember.com/
http://wspd.org.au/