Specialist counselling for people bereaved by suicide

Families affected by the death of a loved one who has taken their own life are offered referrals for specialist counselling, thanks to an arrangement between Essex Police and Essex County Council.

Police officers who attend an incident where it is suspected someone has died by suicide will ask the next of kin if they want to be referred to a specialist bereavement service.James Swatton, of our Mental Health Team, says that a person is much more likely to attempt to take their own life if they have been affected by suicide:
Essex Police, as a force, are dedicated to keeping people safe and to help them when in need.

Suicide has a massive impact on not just the survivors of it, but their friends, family, and their local community. Our officers are trained on how to help members of the public in crisis and are able to get support for them from trained mental health professionals.

In those situations, where a member of the public has sadly lost their life to suicide, we will work with partner agencies to get families the help they need. Our officers attend all reports of suicide and will speak to the next of kin and offer them a referral to specialist support services.

These services are open to anyone affected by suicide including witnesses, friends and work colleagues.

If a close family member doesn’t initially accept the offer, they will get another opportunity during the inquest process.

Essex has seen a significant increase in the number of people suspected of taking their own lives this year, but James and his team want to reduce this.

He says:
These bereavement services will help people who have been affected by suicide get the help, support and understanding they need, and hopefully prevent any further tragedies taking place.

Essex Wellbeing Service, which has been commissioned by Mid and South Essex Integrated Care System, will refer people who take up the opportunity for counselling to one of three organisations, depending on where they live:

Mid and South Essex: Amparo 

North Essex: Victim Support 

West Essex: CHUMS

Suicide is the single biggest killer of men under the age of 45 in the country but suicides among teenage girls and young women are rising.

If anything in this news story has affected you, here are some organisations which can help you:

Mental health

• CALM: visit www.thecalmzone.net or ring 0800 585 858
• Heads Together: visit www.headstogether.org.uk
• Mind: visit www.mind.org.uk or ring 0300 123 3393

Suicide prevention charities

• Papyrus for under 35s: visit www.papyrus-uk.org ring 0800 068 41 41 or email [email protected]
• Samaritans: visit www.samaritans.org ring 116 123 or email [email protected]
• Survivors of Bereavement by Suicide (SOBS): visit uksobs.org ring 0300 111 5065 or email [email protected]
• The Craig Tyler Trust (Basildon): thecraigtylertrust.co.uk

Specialist support for men

• ANDYSMANCLUB: andysmanclub.co.uk

• Movember:  www.uk.movember.com

Suicide awareness training

Mid and South Essex NHS Integrated Care Board also provides online suicide awareness training which will help you to identify the signs of when someone might be having suicidal thoughts and to feel comfortable speaking about suicide in a supportive manner:

• https://letstalkaboutsuicideessex.co.uk