Suicide Prevention Training Can Save Lives
Salem, Mass., March 28, 2017 — Westfield State University’s Residence Director Allison Gagne recently presented the first “Question, Persuade, Refer” (QPR) model of suicide prevention training at Salem State University’s Marsh Hall located on Central Campus.
The QPR model focuses on being aware of a suicidal person’s direct or indirect verbal cues, behavior cues or situational cues. If anyone feels that he or she is receiving any of those cues, the training instructs on how to effectively ask questions and provide assistance in order to get that person the help they need, which usually means guiding them to a mental health professional.
“The purpose of this training is for you all to have the tools to respond to these difficult circumstance,” Gagne said to the 18 people who were attending the training.
Although suicide is not littering news headlines, it is a growing concern for young adults. According to the Center for Disease Control, suicide is the number two leading cause of death of people aged 15 to 34.
QPR is an emergency mental health intervention for suicidal persons created in 1995 by Paul Quinnett. He based his training off how Seattle, Washington, and surrounding King County has trained more citizens in CPR per capita than any other region in the country. As result, CPR-trained citizens are more likely to respond to perceived medical emergencies in Seattle than in any other city in the United States, which leads to more favorable survival rates.
Most the people attending on March 28 were students who were majoring in social work and found the training a necessity. Being trained makes them a gatekeeper, which is defined by the Surgeon General’s National Strategy for Suicide Prevention as “someone in a position to recognize a crisis and the warning signs that someone may be contemplating suicide.”
In order to keep training on such a sensitive subject bearable and lively, the instructor interacted with the crowd throughout the class. There was even an exercise given for the members of the audience forcing them to interact with one another and rehearse the questions and responses between a person contemplating suicide and a gatekeeper.
Dan Dilling has gone through the training twice and utilized it while studying at Westfield State University in order to obtain his bachelor’s degree in special education. He, like many others, expressed how the training made him more confident during some of the most difficult of times.
“You don’t know who is struggling and bluntly asking someone if they are suicidal yields better results than not asking at all, so, don’t be afraid to ask,” Dilling said.
Gagne made it a point to begin with how there are many stigmas around people who contemplate suicide, such as how they are weak or selfish. She continually revisited those stigmas and taught the group how stigmas do more harm than good, in any situation.
“Mental health and suicide: there’s a huge stigma around them,” Gagne said. “It is important to normalize and break down the stigma.”
Dilling was the only other participant who had successfully utilized the QPR method. He shared how the training emboldened him to act after he caught on to the individual’s cues. He was able to direct them to a mental health professional and that person thanked him for it.
