Suicide vigil to help break the silence

Albany will hold its first vigil on World Suicide Prevention Day next month, with organisers hoping to break the silence around the leading cause of death for young Australian adults.

Headspace Albany manager Andrew Wenzel, who has been working with the Great Southern Suicide Advisory Group, said he hoped the event would bring the community together to support anyone affected by suicide.

“One of the things we really notice is that when there is a death through suicide in the community, there’s a lot of silence that goes with it,” he said.

“Understandably it’s really difficult to talk about it — people are unsure or uncomfortable about it and they don’t know what to say.”

Mr Wenzel said a recent study had shown a single suicide could affect 25-40 people.

That included the victim’s immediate family and friends, and spread even wider to their colleagues, school peers and members of their sporting clubs.

“In a small community like Albany, the effect of a single suicide can be very far-reaching,” he said. “But because of that stigma that comes with suicide, people are reluctant to talk about it.

“We have signs about road toll, we have articles and statistics around deaths from motorcycle incidents or even measles, but we don’t talk about suicide nearly enough, when it’s actually the leading cause of deaths for young people across Australia.

“We need everyone to know that talking about suicide does not actually increase suicide — there is no evidence for that. It’s been the common misconception that lots of people held.”

Mr Wenzel said when the community could ignore the stigma behind suicide, they would be able to heal together and let the victims’ families grieve more openly without a sense of shame.

“We felt as a group that part of being a more compassionate and stronger community that has greater awareness of how to prevent suicide is to actually come together and start talking about it,” he said.

“To start showing support for one another, especially for those who are bereaved by suicide and often have to struggle in isolation.”

The vigil will be held at Albany Town Square on Tuesday, September 10.

Everyone is welcome, and there will be trained support people in attendance.