Reflections: Changing the Narrative on Suicide and Suicide Prevention Symposium

It seems like everyone is talking about changing the narrative on suicide and suicide prevention.

Certainly, the WHO theme for World Suicide Prevention Day is ‘changing the narrative’ and the most recent draft advice on a National Strategy for Suicide Prevention by the National Suicide Prevention Office clearly recommended a shift from viewing suicide as an individual pathology, to considering the social and environmental determinants of suicide.

With this growing awareness nationally and internationally, we decided to host a symposium on the theme ‘Changing the Narrative’.

A symposium is not a conference. It is an opportunity for people to come together to explore new ways of thinking and connect.

The gathering in Cairns included over 100 people coming together in a creative theatre space to explore the concepts.

To change the narrative on suicide, we first need to ask why it’s important to shift the way we think about it. And what are we shifting from and to?

We also need to change things up; ask provocative questions, and listen to uncomfortable answers.

The ‘conversation sparkers’ we had come along to the symposium were intentionally invited to share different approaches to the subject.

It's a tired but true saying that if you always do what you've always done you get the same result. With suicide impacting a broadening cohort of our citizens for many diverse and interconnected reasons it does seem that a shift in our thinking and approach is in order.

Enter stage right: a futures thinker, a First Nations community health and education activist, a professor in community development and social entrepreneurship, and a nurse practitioner who has designed a compassionate approach to listening to distress.

Over the course of the day, the conversations explored the impacts of colonisation, questions about the effectiveness of service systems, thoughts about connection, and how we might build communities that care and support each other.

The symposium was part of a series of iterative collaborative events and will spark what we hope will be ongoing conversations. The Collaborative’s focus is in finding new ways to work together and centres on humanity, hope, connectedness and being stronger together. The challenge now is to translate the ideas and insights shared into tangible action. 

Some of those strategies have already been highlighted through earlier workshops and are summarised in the “one-pagers” on access, racism, stigma and language, systems and education and will form the basis of our work together.

Changing the narrative on suicide and suicide prevention requires us to rethink not only how we approach these issues, but also how we view each other as human beings. By broadening our understanding of the factors that contribute to suicide and creating stronger, more connected communities, we can foster a culture of empathy, hope, and collective action.

Ultimately, the symposium in Cairns was provocative, inspiring and bold, marking an important step in the ongoing journey toward a more compassionate, connected, and effective approach to suicide prevention.