Helping you to feel more willing, confident and able to talk about and respond to mental health, self-harm and suicide prevention by attending our training
📵 Children are increasingly exposed to content that can be harmful, including misogyny and unhealthy relationship dynamics, particularly online. Last week, the Government released new guidance on education around these topics with a focus on helping children and young people ‘identify positive role models and challenge harmful behaviours they might encounter online and in real life’. (Education Hub)
These changes will be mandatory for all schools to implement from 1 September 2025, and so the education our children receive around relationships, relationships and sex, and health will look different.
So what’s changed?
🚨 Sexual harassment, stalking, revenge porn, sexism, deepfakes – all of these are now explicitly taught.
♂️ Misogyny and Incel culture – Students will learn to identify these & promote positive male role models.
👮 Strangulation is taught as a criminal offence – even without visible injury.
🔞 Age-appropriate flexibility – primary schools may teach PSHE topics to children in years 5/6+ if relevant to pupil’s experiences
🪪 Gender identity – guidance advises schools to remain neutral and to avoid simplifying gender or endorsing one ideological perspective
🧠 All schools should offer mental health support to some degree:
Primary – Focus on emotions, bullying and loneliness Secondary – includes suicide prevention Additional topics to include menstrual health, antimicrobial resistance, gambling, bereavement and parenting
⚠️ These new guidelines mark a positive shift in increasing awareness around modern harms and safeguarding for our children, and the addition of Suicide Prevention education for children of secondary school age and above marks a turning point.
Suicide is one of the leading causes of death for children and young people, and by introducing awareness there is a hope to prevent suicidality and provide greater support.
🚶♂️➡️🚶♂️➡️🚶♂️➡️
This change is a result of the Government’s consultation, but it has been brought about with the tireless efforts of Mike, Andy and Tim from 3 Dads Walking.
These men came together after losing their daughters to suicide, and began a four year campaign to raise funds and awareness for suicide prevention services. They have walked more than 1,500 miles and raised over £1.5 million for PAPYRUS Prevention of Young Suicide, as well as campaigning for national change and an increased awareness of suicide among young people.
This change in guidance is a huge success for the sector and for education, but an even bigger achievement for the 3 Dads. We want to join with the nation and the Suicide Prevention Sector to thank these men for their determination and effort.
Suicide is the leading cause of death in men under 49 and women under 35. With a rise in mental ill-health and suicide, there is an ever increasing need for all individuals to understand how to spot signs of distress, effectively respond, and support a person in need.
Mental Health Learning was founded in 2018 as a consultancy and training provider to support places of education and workplaces to help people to acquire this potentially life-saving knowledge. Our mission is to ensure that skills continue to grow amongst those who are most likely to see the signs of mental ill-health, self-harm, and thoughts of suicide. Our motivation is that our trainees can recognise these signs, then intervene to reduce harm in your place of education or workplace.
In this post, we’ll be discussing how these factors can contribute to suicide risk, and we’ll be sharing resources and training, both for those in need of support, and for those who are working or living with people who may be at risk.
Every life lost to suicide is a profound tragedy that sends ripples through families, communities, and society as a whole. Behind each statistic lies a human story — often shaped by social, economic, and environmental factors that go far beyond individual mental health.
In March 2025, the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health published a review of the social determinants of suicide, and this highlighted a number of factors that could contribute to a risk of suicide.
This review challenges the idea that suicide risk is solely related to a persons mental health, and fills in the gaps in knowledge around other risk factors of suicide. Previous research has highlighted the role of social determinants of health on mental health, but their impact on suicide is less understood.
The aim of the review was to look at the link between ten social determinants of health (as defined by the World Health Organisation) and suicide mortality. It found the following associations:
Unemployment, low income, debt, and economic downturns are significantly associated with increased suicide risk.
Generous social protection policies (e.g., unemployment benefits) may reduce suicide rates.
Low education and adverse working conditions (e.g., workplace violence, low job control) are associated with higher suicide risk.
Environmental factors such as high temperatures, air pollution, natural disasters, and rural residence can elevate suicide risk.
Childhood adversity (e.g., neglect or abuse) is also a notable contributor.
Suicide Prevention Advice & Help
⚠️If you’re worried about yourself, or if the content of this newsletter is distressing – you can access help using the resources below ⚠️
If you’re worried about someone in your community
Your intuition is the most powerful tool that could tell you if someone needs help. Even if you can’t put your finger on it but something is telling you that you ought to be concerned about someone, trust your instinct. You might not know what to say and you may be worried about what you should do if there is something serious, but reaching out to someone doesn’t mean you have to be the only one helping them. Quite often it’s the case that we just need someone to listen and talk to. Some of the things you’ve noticed that might be causing you concern could be:
Emotional outbursts
A change in appearance
Withdrawing from you or others
Isolating themselves where they previously didn’t
A change in mood
Seemingly hopeless talk such as “there’s no point anymore”, “i feel so low”, or “nothing is getting any better”
We all react to emotional distress in different ways so there could be other things you’ve noticed.
Start a conversation – share what you’ve noticed and ask how they are. The most important thing you can do is listen.
Empathise with their feelings, acknowledge their struggles. Don’t feel you have to try and fix what’s going on for them – showing you understand their problems will be more helpful.
It’s important for them – and you – that they have a support network of individuals and services if needed. Explore who else they can share their feelings with and support them to talk to others if they don’t feel able to do this alone.
Thoughts of suicide are not uncommon and can affect one in five adults in a lifetime. Ask about suicide clearly and directly: “Are you having thoughts of suicide?” You will not create feelings of suicide by doing this.
If you’d like further information or training in suicide prevention, don’t hesitate to reach out: Training@mentalhealthlearning.co.uk
For over twenty years, March the first has been Self Injury Awareness Day, and it is marked by many mental health and support professionals, as well as individuals seeking to raise awareness of the prevalence of self harm.
” Awareness leads to understanding and empathy, banishing judgment and fear, and reducing the number of people who feel alone and suffer in silence. Raising awareness is about educating people who do not self-injure, and reaching out to people who do. “ Life Signs | Self Injury Awareness Day
What’s the difference between ‘self-harm and ‘self-injury?’
Self-injury refers to behaviours that are deliberately intended to inflict harm or damage to the body, and is often used as a coping mechanism to help deal with emotional pain. It often only provides temporary relief, but can be used to prove to a person that their pain is ‘real’, and often escalates in severity.
Self-harm is an umbrella term that can include self-injury, as well as other coping behaviours that cause harm to ourselves such as eating disorders, risk taking, drug or alcohol misuse. At Mental Health Learning, we know all too well that the prevalence of self injury is getting worse. In 2024, the UK Government reported that the yearly rate of self-harm incidents in children and young people increased by 61% compared to the previous year (Gov.uk).
Despite this alarming increase, self-injury still carries a lot of stigma in our society, and stereotypes and judgements of those who self-injure are often preventing those who need help from reaching out for support. That’s why we think it is important to take this opportunity to address some of the myths around self-injury.
Only women self-injure… Studies show that both men and women turn to self-injury as a coping behaviour.
Self-injury is a ‘teenage white girl thing’… Statistics show that young people are likely to turn to self-injury, but this includes young people of all genders and ethnic groups.
Young people self-injure and then grow out of it… Self-injury is not a result of immaturity. People of any age can find themselves turning to self-injury after trauma, during stress or to copy with distress, and this is a result of coping with more than they know how to manage.
Self-injury is attention seeking… Those who self-injure are likely to suffer from shame and guilt over their actions. They may have hidden it before reaching out for help.
Self-injury is manipulative behaviour… When a person is desperate, and feels that their control has been taken away, they may turn to anything they can to cope. Self-injury is a plea for help in coping with the overwhelming feelings a person is experiencing, and should be responded to with support. Life Signs | Self Injury Myths
This addresses just some of the myths around self-injury, but it is easy to see how these assumptions can be harmful to those who are using self-injury to cope with their distress.
These myths negate an understanding of the reasons behind self-injury, and will likely cause the person to feel shame, embarrassment and make them less likely to feel they can share their feelings or reach out for help. Without addressing the root cause of the distress, this cycle continues and is likely to lead to an escalation of the behaviour.
The best way to help a person who is self-injuring is to break this cycle and prevent future self-harming behaviours.
How You Can Help It can be hard to know how to approach the subject of self-injury, or self-harm, especially if we notice behaviours in young people who may feel less able to share their feelings.
If you are a parent or caregiver, or an adult working with young people, here are a few things to remember that may be useful.
Ask clearly and directly. The best way to start a conversation is to ask. This can be difficult to do, but it will likely enable the person who is suffering to talk openly and give them relief.
Let them know you are willing to listen to their feelings with compassion. ‘Sometimes when individuals are going through difficult things and feeling really distressed, they can hurt themselves on purpose to try and cope with that distress. I’ve noticed that you are going through some difficult things and seem really distressed. Do you ever hurt yourself on purpose?’
Acknowledge the persons response. Validate their reasons why, listen to how self harm helps them, but discuss the possible dangers and talk about what they could try instead.
Mental Health Learning Courses
We know how hard it is to talk about self-harm and self-injury, as it brings up difficult feelings for everyone involved. We provide training courses that can enable constructive discussion about these difficult topics, and equip you with the skills and confidence to have these vital conversations; whether you work with people at risk of self-harm or want to be able to help those close to you.
An Introduction to Self-Harm This session is designed to teach the facts and fundamentals of self-harm. You will learn how to sensitively respond to self-harm and find out what sources of support are available. Participants will gain: – An improved understanding of self-harm – Knowledge of the facts around it – Understanding of how to sensitively respond to self-harm – Knowledge of what sources of support are available.
Recognising and Responding to Self-Harm With an existing knowledge of the fundamentals of self-harm, this course goes on to teach a more thorough understanding of self-injury and the different underlying meanings it can have for each individual, including contributory factors. Participants will have: – A thorough understanding of self-harm and the different underlying meanings it can have for each individual – A greater realisation of what can contribute to self harm – What to look out for – How to sensitively respond and react – The support that can be provided
We hope that you will feel able to discuss mental health and self-harm with your communities, but if you do need some extra training and support, please do contact us to find out how we can help.
“It is time to prioritize mental health in the workplace”.
We don’t usually mark specific days to raise awareness, as we work to do this every day, but the theme of this year rings true with our goals, and we wanted to use this opportunity to speak about why it is so important to prioritise mental health in the workplace.
According to a recent report from Deloitte on mental health and employment, 59% of people who left their job or are planning to leave their job said it was ‘somewhat, largely or entirely due to personal mental health and well-being related issues’.
The report states that the cost of sickness absence has increased by 20% in the last year to £7billion and presenteeism costing £24billion.
It also found that 63% of respondents had experienced at least one characteristic of burnout, which it defines as ‘feeling of exhaustion, mental distance from their job, or decline in performance at work.’
This report makes a clear case that mental health is having a profound and detrimental impact on the workplace. These statistics show that it is not just employers that are suffering losses, but that employees are losing out on their ability and motivation to find and keep work due to their mental health struggles.
It is abundantly clear how important and necessary it is for employers to invest in supporting workers and creating a mentally healthy workplace, and we strongly believe that training is an effective way for employers to begin to make impactful change.
In 2023, we delivered courses to around 1,000 participants seeking to increase their awareness of mental health and suicide prevention, and this year has been equally busy. We are seeing first hand that employers are investing more to make positive change for their workforce and we hope that this year’s WMHD theme helps to inspire more to do the same.
Our Courses
We offer a range of courses that can be beneficial to employers, and can also create bespoke courses that are tailored to your company. We know it can be a bit overwhelming to know where to start, so we have some great courses to get you going on the path to creating a mentally healthy workplace.
This course teaches a greater understanding of mental health. You will gain knowledge of what it means to have good or poor mental health, increased alertness to the signs of mental ill health in the workplace, and an increased confidence to address them and put support in place.
In this training you will learn why we need to be alert to suicide. Understand what to look out for among employees, how to ask about suicide, and learn about the legal obligations as an employer.
We offer a range of courses to suit your needs, whether you are an organisation seeking support, or an individual seeking a more in-depth knowledge, our courses are for everyone. If you can’t find what you’re looking for in our Training Guide, please contact us as we are always happy to create bespoke courses tailored to you.
Yes we must acknowledge there are suicides that appear to happen ‘out of the blue’, with seemingly no verbal indicators or behavioural changes noticed by others.
But, there are also, individuals who die by suicide, having attempted to end their life multiple times before.
It is these individuals, that are too often not taken seriously. Labelled as ‘attention seekers’, ‘time wasters’.
Prior suicide behaviour, is one of the biggest predictors of future suicide attempts and death by suicide.
Individuals with thoughts of suicide, are stuck in between feelings of wanting to live and wanting to die. They can be pulled back and forth between the reasons for deciding on either of these options, and therefore there are different reasons behind the intended outcome of suicide behaviour.
Example 1. An individual has tried to verbalise their suicidal thoughts several times but they have been ignored, dismissed, or deliberately avoided by others.
This individual now feels they have to act on their thoughts of suicide because they feel they have to show those around them just how serious they are about suicide, in order to get the help they need. But if their actions too are not taken seriously, it could end in death.
All individuals with suicidal thoughts and/or behaviours must be taken seriously.
Example 2. An individual’s thoughts have progressed to suicide planning. They attempt to end their live, but survive this attempt with the help of their Support Worker*. When thoughts of suicide overwhelm them again, and they take steps to end their life, they contact the same person/service, because that person/service helped them stay alive last time.
*or Teacher, Social Worker, neighbour, friend, Police Officer, Residential Care Worker etc
It makes sense doesn’t it? When an individual, torn between wanting to live and wanting to die is helped to stay alive, by a person (or service), it’s only natural they would go back to the same person again because they helped them! It means that person did something right. So when a person with thoughts of suicide, comes to you for the 2nd time or the 77th time, we need to respond with respect and compassion.
All individuals with suicidal thoughts and/or behaviours must be taken seriously.
When individuals with thoughts of suicide aren’t taken seriously, when they are ignored, dismissed or avoided, sadly it can, and does end in suicide.
We need to change the narrative.
All individuals with suicidal thoughts and/or behaviours must be taken seriously.
What does your experience tell you?
What are the messages around suicide behaviour within your workplace?
Do you receive clinical supervision or reflective practice to support you when working with individuals with thoughts of suicide?
Self-harm is said to affect an estimated 1 in 14 people over a lifetime.
However, there’s a problem with statistics. Statistics rely on individuals, self-reporting their self-harm. This might be through an anonymous survey collected by e.g a third sector organisation. Or perhaps they have attended A&E for help and for their injury to be treated.
An obvious problem here is that not all people will self-report or attend A&E. Self-harm is a secretive act that many children, young people and adults try their best to hide from others. This means that others are unaware and the data collectors are unaware. Secondly the individual would have to recognise their actions as self-harming.
What is self-harm?
Self-harm is generally defined as an intentional act of harm inflicted upon oneself. Certain behaviours spring to mind when we mention self-harm, but in reality, self-harming behaviours go far beyond the acts that are more commonly spoken about.
Self-harm can take the form of indirect behaviours and much less obvious behaviours, such as purposely getting into fights, eyelash pulling and engaging in risky behaviour.
Essentially, anything that is being done intentionally to cause harm to oneself, can be classed as self-harm. This tells us there are likely to be many more young people – and adults, that are harming themselves.
Looking beyond the behaviour
We’ll focus on young people. The aim of understanding self-harm in order to help the young person, must be to look beyond the behaviour and address what is causing it.
What emotions are behind the self-harm? What emotions does it elicit for the young person?
Do they recognise the emotions they are experiencing and where they are coming from?
Young people can self-harm for a wealth of different reasons – some find it gives them a sense of comfort, others a sense of control. Others it could be punishment, and others it’s a way to feel something when everything else feels numb.
By seeking to understand the emotions behind the self-harm and the needs it is meeting, we can identify appropriate alternative coping strategies. For example, if a young person self-harms to soothe themselves, meditation may be an appropriate distraction or coping strategy. If a young person self-harms to release built up pressure, then engaging in something physical like dancing or running may be an alternative strategy.
A young person cannot just stop self-harming, and this can be a long process through which we support them to try new ways of coping and introduce distraction techniques that gradually reduce the self-harm over time. They may also need additional support to address the problems that caused the self-harm in the first place.
Fantastic. Your team has attended LivingWorks Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training (ASIST). Job done right? Another item ticked off the list. No need to build the cost into further budgets, everyone’s skilled up and ready to go for the rest of their careers.
Firstly, AMAZING if you have gotten this far – you’ve accepted that suicide prevention is your business and recognised this is a challenge your team can help with this. Not only that, but you’ve understood that your team should receive support through training to do this, and you appreciate the value behind ASIST – arguably the only skills building suicide intervention training that exists. Participants who attend ASIST are more prepared, confident, willing and able to ask about suicide and intervene. BUT does this feeling last? Do participants remember the knowledge, and keep the skills they develop, forever?
I wonder, if you could dig out your policy for manual handling.. for cybersecurity… Safeguarding… Physical first aid….
I’m fairly confident that each of those policies, would include words to the effect of ‘training to be completed by staff every X years’.
So, I’m curious, why so many organisations feel this should be different for suicide intervention training. That once the training bas been completed, there’s no need for staff to ever complete it again.
Why should we complete ASIST reguarly?
The need for regular, recurring training isn’t any different for suicide intervention training. You’re equipping your staff with suicide first aid, and like all training, memories fade and behaviours and skills can be unlearnt.
A suicide-first aid intervention is a life and death situation, and if your team haven’t used their skills for 2 or more years, recalling their learning will be difficult. If helpers feel unprepared, unconfident they will be less willing to ask about suicide and provide an intervention – some potential helpers may avoid help-giving altogether.
My team support individuals with thoughts of suicide on a regular basis – do they need to attend ASIST regularly?
Even if your team are frequently putting their training into practice, it’s still important for them to attend regular training. Without regular training there is a possible risk for caregivers to become desensitised. ASIST would give your team an opportunity to revisit their thoughts, feelings and attitudes around suicide and the experiences they have had which shape these. This reflective process would enable your team to consider their practice and what impacts on their help-giving qualities and approaches, as well as reminding them of the steps to take in an intervention and re-learn the skills needed to do this well.
How often should we attend ASIST?
The recommendation for individuals, is to attend ASIST every 3 years. Grab your certificate now, or check your calendar – if you and your team attended ASIST 2.5 years ago or more, contact Mental Health Learning to arrange a course today.
Moreover, Provisional analysis indicates 10.7 suicides per 100,000 people in Quarter 1 (January to March) 2022 in England, including 1,314 deaths. In Quarter 2 (April to June) 2022, there were 9.7 suicides per 100,000 people, including 1,201 deaths.
Experiencing a loss of a loved one to death by suicide can be devastating. After a person experiences death due to suicide, the emotional sensations that surface can be significant and gut-wrenching. Many individuals may feel guilty and wonder what they could have done to prevent the tragedy.
Each death leaves family and friends distraught and bewildered, fighting to comprehend and deal with their feelings about this loss. Yet, as a result of the stigma around suicide and mental health issues, as well as multiple layers of complicated emotions around suicide, people may be hesitant to reach out for help and support or may not be able to get the needed help they need to cope with this monumental loss.
Survivors Of Suicide Loss: Play Your Part!
Several recent studies have shown that it’s imperative to discuss and compensate for the well-being of survivors. Studies focusing on survivors of suicide have found that feelings of belongingness, talking about the tragedy, and social support are instrumental in their recovery and growth. In 2019, a study of suicide loss found that having greater social connection was correlated with fewer symptoms of depression, less bereavement difficulty, and increased personal growth.
One survey found that people tend to refrain from talking about their trauma to family and friends. This lack of sharing often leads to loneliness, detachment, difficulty coping, and a higher likelihood of sleep problems and depression. The authors state that when suicide survivors speak and share, the more meaningful trust helps them recover and prevents them from developing social security disabilities and health issues. You can help, by creating opportunities for loss to be shared and freely spoken about, reducing feelings of isolation. Mental Health Learning is doing the same so.
How Is Mental Health Learning Creating a Change?
Mental Health Learning provides mental health and suicide prevention training professionally tailored to your organisation or community. Their courses are 60 minutes to 2 days; they can come to you at your organisation or the location of your choice. Many of their courses can also be taken online. To know more about their courses and plan, visit their site.
Conclusion
Suicide is a tragedy that impacts everyone differently. However, bystanders and survivors can unite to support one another on Survivors of Suicide Loss Day. This day is an opportunity to reflect upon the loss of a loved one to suicide, open up about your own experience, and connect with others who understand what you’re going through. If you or someone you know is struggling with suicidal thoughts, please reach out for help.
The COVID-19 pandemic has created a global crisis for mental health, fueling short- and long-term stresses and undermining the mental health of millions. Estimates put the rise in both anxiety and depressive disorders at more than 25% during the first year of the pandemic. At the same time, mental health services have been severely disrupted and the treatment gap for mental health conditions has widened.
That’s why the theme for this year’s World Mental Health Day is ‘Make Mental Health a Global Priority’. It’s up to all of us to help raise awareness about the impact the pandemic has had on mental health across the globe and the need to increase funding for mental healthcare services.
One way to help is to start at the source and educate children in school about mental wellbeing. This idea is being used across the globe currently with the UK adding a ‘Teaching about mental wellbeing’ teacher training model to the curriculum. We have developed this mental wellbeing teacher training module to help subject leads and teachers understand what they should teach, as well as improving their confidence in delivering mental wellbeing as part of the new curriculum. This new curriculum became statutory in the UK in September 2020.
In America, they have a slightly more involved approach. They may hire school-based therapists or social workers, they can provide access to prevention programming, early identification of mental health challenges, and treatment options. They can also partner with community mental health organisations and agencies to develop an integrated, comprehensive program of support and services.
Throughout Europe, changes are being discussed and a framework on how well-being and mental health in schools may be promoted through a systemic, whole-school approach is being proposed. A whole-school approach mobilises the various resources of the whole school community, including the active engagement and voices of students, staff, parents and professionals, towards a collaborative effort to promote the mental health and well-being of all members of the community.
What can you do?
One thing you can do to help this process is to educate yourself and others and learn how you can pass on this knowledge to the younger generation. At Mental Health Learning, we can provide your school staff with the training they need to spot signs of distress and support pupils with their mental health in your school. You can find out more here.
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This year, World Suicide Prevention Day was the 10th September and “Creating hope through action” is the triennial theme for the World Suicide Prevention Day from 2021 – 2023. This theme is a reminder that there is an alternative to suicide and aims to inspire confidence and light in all of us.
There was a MASSIVE impact on mental health globally throughout the pandemic, so we look at the statistics over a three year period to ensure we’re getting a comprehensive view of how this issue is affecting everyone. By taking the average across three year periods we get a better idea of where people are suffering and can use the data to create a plan of action to help.
We’re encouraging you to continue the conversation all year round as the issue is always prevalent – and there’s always something we can do to help. An estimated 703,000 people a year take their life around the world. For every suicide, there are likely 20 other people making a suicide attempt and many more have serious thoughts of suicide. Millions of people suffer intense grief or are otherwise profoundly impacted by suicidal behaviours. This is why it’s of vital importance that we all do what we can.
How can you get involved?
By encouraging understanding, reaching out and sharing experiences, we want to give people the confidence to take action. To prevent suicide requires us to become a beacon of light to those in pain. You don’t need to have all the answers, you just need to be willing to help.
We can all play a role in supporting those experiencing a suicidal crisis or those bereaved by suicide whether as a member of society, as a child, as a parent, as a friend, as a colleague or as a person with lived experience.
Here are some ways you can take action:
Get informed: there are plenty of courses you can take to better understand how to spot the signs of someone suffering from poor mental health and suicidal thoughts. We have a number of available courses we can teach online or in your community, you can find out more here.
Keep the conversation open: check in with your friends, family, co-workers or anyone you think may be struggling. It can be helpful to open dialogue by opening up about your own feelings and starting to normalise talking about these issues.
Get involved with charities: this is a great way to help if you’re really passionate about making a difference in this area. There are so many worthy charities that help people who are suffering in this way that you can help and that will give you the knowledge you need to help more effectively. For example, the Samaritans have a great article on World Suicide Prevention Day that you can find here.
If you’re looking for more information, the government has a strategy document for how they plan to help bring suicide rates down, you can find it here.
The only true way to tackle this issue, make a difference and save lives is to keep spreading awareness and to keep educating ourselves. If you have any questions or want to find out more about our courses, visit our website or follow us on Twitter.
