Confronting the Silent Crisis: Addressing Suicide

We need to talk … about suicide

By Mike McCarthy, Founder of the Baton of Hope

Imagine, if you can bear to, how the world would react if every one of British Airways’ 12-strong fleet of Airbus A380s crashed in one year and that everyone onboard was lost.

It is almost unthinkable, not least because the aircraft is seen as one of the safest in the world. That’s largely because air travel is rigidly regulated and we rightly treat it with all the dedication that it deserves, spending incalculable £millions and devoting endless hours on research.

Now imagine if there was something else that killed the same amount of people in the UK. But not just in one year; every year. That’s more than six thousand people year in, year out.

The tragedy upon tragedy is that this is not an imaginary scenario, yet we scarcely even hear about it. This is reality so let’s speak its name: suicide.

Statistically, we are each twice as likely to take our own lives as die in a road traffic accident.

For under 35s it is the nation’s biggest killer.

I know too well that, although the figures are shocking, they do little or nothing to capture the personal pain of so many families. My own beloved son Ross took his life aged 31 and, though it was more than two-and-a-half years ago, my grief feels raw and eternal. So why do I spend so much time talking about hope? Strange as it may sound, it was Ross who, in his farewell letter, left me with a sense of hope. Among the heart-breaking goodbyes was a plea: “Please fight for mental health. The support is just not there.”

There was something in those simple sentences that went directly to my heart and has stayed there ever since. My son had lost all hope for himself but still saw it for others in a world in which he would no longer play a part.

Hundreds of conversations, with doctors, psychiatrists, suicide survivors and countless bereaved families, have given me hope. That hope is based around the certainty that we do not have to accept a dreadful status quo in which the UK suicide statistics have stagnated for over fifteen years and that, broadly speaking, suicide is preventable.

The Baton of Hope is a rare, if not unique, symbol of mental wellbeing in a world overflowing with emblems of physical prowess; sports trophies, medals, etc. Over the summer we saw its impact as it was carried through 12 cities in 12 days by a thousand baton bearers. It connected individuals and communities in what the Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak, called “the biggest suicide initiative we’ve ever seen.” Schools, colleges, businesses, charities, politicians and more came together for a common purpose and now our charity is enthusiastically charged with the ambition of carrying the Baton onwards and building on the legacy of that tour.

There is no one-size-fits-all approach to solving the crisis we are facing, but one of the main places people spend their time is at work. It’s an area that is poorly served in terms of businesses having the guidance they need to ensure the wellbeing of their staff and that support is provided in a positive and effective way. Dean Russell, MP for Watford and a prominent mental health campaigner, has commented: “The workplace plays a crucial part in our mental health and there is a clear need for guidance on how organisations can better support their greatest asset, their people, with cultures that promote openness and a sense of safety to talk about mental health and suicide.”

Our plans therefore include the development of a project called the Workplace Charter, which addresses the desperate need for better provision of support in the workplace, and suicide strategies in particular.

Unfortunately, business leaders can be reticent to put such strategies in place for fear that the subject is too complex. There is often a gap when it comes to mention of suicide as part of occupational health, which refers to keeping people well at work – physically and mentally. The Workplace Charter is therefore being developed to help employers implement effective suicide prevention strategies through a series of clear steps and advice. It aims to provide organisations with everything they need to embed suicide awareness, support and prevention across the workplace. How colleagues and teams can manage a death from suicide in the workplace is also a crucial topic for all businesses to address, as well as how those who are bereaved by suicide can access support.

Our team may have lived experience but that doesn’t mean we’re experts. That’s why we’ve enlisted the help of corporate, public and voluntary sector representatives, including from corporate sponsors such as Alstom, Westfield Health and Savills. Leading clinicians in the field of suicide prevention are also helping ensure the Charter is fit for purpose, including Professor Rory O’Connor. Prof O’Connor is President of the International Association for Suicide Prevention and a world leader on suicide research and prevention. He is one of our principal endorsers, also contributing to the Charter and adding, “Employers have a crucial role to play in suicide prevention.”

The Baton of Hope’s Workplace Charter will give all businesses, whether global, national, regional, large or small, the resources they need to look after their people. Among the guidance will be six principles and best practices for implementing effective suicide support and prevention processes in the workplace. These include using clear and consistent messaging, embracing those with lived experience, and promoting crisis services and other resources.

We want employers to start taking mental health as seriously as physical health in the workplace. As things stand, investments by organisations into occupational health are skewed towards physical safety, despite poor mental health constituting more than half of all work-related illnesses (51%). This costs UK employers as much as £45 billion per year.

Our summer tour united people up and down the country in our vision of a zero-suicide society. We spend around a third of our lives at work so, by instigating a similar approach to suicide in our workplaces, we believe we can save lives.