Mental Health and Suicide Prevention

Urgent Help

Suicidal feelings can affect anyone of any age, gender or background at any time. Suicide is the biggest killer of under 35s in the UK and over 200 school children are lost to suicide every year (Papyrus, UK). Here in Sheffield, around two-thirds of suicides are young males. But the data is changing and suicide numbers are increasing. We want to change that and we’re asking the people of Sheffield to help save lives.

Our #TalkingSavesLives campaign is about encouraging people to start conversations about mental health and our overall wellbeing as a step towards preventing suicides and saving more lives in Sheffield.

The pandemic has left many people struggling, with diagnosed cases of depression doubling and a mental health crisis looming. So these conversations are even more important to us all at this time. Talking about our health – physical or mental does not have to be scary. Anyone can become physically unwell, just as anyone can become mentally unwell at any time. Being able to talk openly about how we are feeling is an important part of understanding and managing how we think, feel and behave.

Having healthy conversations with people we trust, really can save lives. When someone reaches crisis point, they might bottle up how they are truly feeling as they don’t want to be a burden to anyone. Asking someone a simple question can end up being a lifeline. Those few words can lead to support from family and friends and the chance to get referred for specialist help. If you are worried about someone’s mental health or fear someone close to you may be having suicidal thoughts, there’s lots you can do to help.

Are you ok? Are you really ok?

Simply asking someone how they’re feeling, gives them the chance to open up. Are you ok? Are you really ok? Asking twice shows that we are really open to listen to the true answer and we are asking because we care, not just out of habit.