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Take part in suicide prevention research commissioned by Network Rail

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Hello everyone,

Our team at Middlesex University is focusing on suicide prevention on the railways and we were listed as one of the ‘Nation’s Lifesavers List’ projects of #MadeAtUni campaign (see https://madeatuni.org.uk/middlesex-...t-suicide-railways-and-other-public-locations). The research was commissioned by Samaritans on behalf of the Network Rail as part of their suicide reduction and prevention work. There is around one suicide on the UK’s railways every 32 hours. The emotional costs to the individual’s family, friends, fellow commuters and transport staff are immeasurable.

This study aims to develop a better understanding of how to support people in crisis and prevent suicide attempts and how bystanders react when they come into contact with people on the railways and other public locations who are in distress and/or suicidal.


We want to hear from you - those who have stepped in to help in such a situation or wanted to but did not know what to do. We would like to understand what makes a safe and effective bystander intervention, what can be helpful or unhelpful to someone who has been interrupted/stopped, factors which would discourage someone from intervening at all in situations like these and any fears/concerns surrounding bystander interventions. Previous research conducted by the same team for Samaritans and Network Rail suggested that a small talk can disrupt someones’ thoughts and save a life.


All responses are completely anonymous and confidential. The anonymous link of the survey is the following: https://mdxl.eu.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_dn880JfiHPladG5

Please consider to complete our survey! It will only take a few minutes and your opinion is valuable.

Thank you for your time!
 
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bb21

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Approved but bumped by forum staff to improve visibility.
 

LCC106

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Also taken part and totally agree that it is thought provoking. Would love training in how to support suicidal people. Hope you get a good breadth of responses.
 
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Also taken part and totally agree that it is thought provoking. Would love training in how to support suicidal people. Hope you get a good breadth of responses.
Thank you very much for completing it! I really hope that too - would be very interesting to hear the experiences of people who work on the railway industry and deal with situations like these very often. I am sure you can give us a very different perspective!
 

trentside

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Done, agreed it’s an important topic.

Rail staff who haven’t done one of the excellent Samaritans courses, they’re well worth doing and are really thought provoking and could help you save someone’s life. A lot of staff are cynical about these courses but they are really worth doing.
 
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Completed. A very important piece of research that should be widely supported.
Totally agree, your responses will help us understand how to better support people when they are in distress and what more can be done to prevent suicides on the railways. Thank you for completing!
 

DarloRich

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Totally agree, your responses will help us understand how to better support people when they are in distress and what more can be done to prevent suicides on the railways. Thank you for completing!

staff training certianly but also empowering members of the public to, identify people in trouble, intervene and/or make a report of someone in distress without fear they will be told of for doing so.

I hope this survey is a success.
 
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Done, agreed it’s an important topic.

Rail staff who haven’t done one of the excellent Samaritans courses, they’re well worth doing and are really thought provoking and could help you save someone’s life. A lot of staff are cynical about these courses but they are really worth doing.
Thank you so much! Yes exactly - for every life lost in the railways, 6 are saved by others. You can also visit - https://www.samaritans.org/support-us/campaign/small-talk-saves-lives/
 
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staff training certianly but also empowering members of the public to, identify people in trouble, intervene and/or make a report of someone in distress without fear they will be told of for doing so.

I hope this survey is a success.
Exactly! We aim to understand how to encourage people from the general public to intervene when someone around them is at risk, challenges and difficulties around that and what makes a safe and effective intervention.
 

Steelwheels

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Done and I agree with thinking this survey should be completed by all associated with the rail industry.
 

bb21

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Sticky isn't always as visible as threads at the top of the pile when suitably bumped (by forum staff of course ;)), but will give this a go for a week and see how it develops.
 

Cowley

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Just filled it in. Good luck with it all.
 

Mathew S

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Would love training in how to support suicidal people.
I did a two day 'Mental Health First Aid' course last year and it was superb. Very thorough, very thought provoking, and very helpful.
Mine was through my Trade Union, oddly enough, but it is well worth the time and effort if you possibly can attend one (I believe there are also half-day versions).
Details of the course I went on are on the Mental Health First Aid England website at: https://mhfaengland.org/. I'm sure there are similar organisations in the other nations.
 

maire23

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As a retired mental health nurse, who also suffers with mental health problems and provides emotional support to my fiancé who is quite disabled by his mental health problems- I was very interested in this and it was very thought provoking. I am studying psychology too but I hadn’t thought of this.
Good luck with the study :)
 

Legolash2o

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Great survey and agree it's thought provoking.

As someone who has mental health issues with the train being the option I would use, I thought it was very helpful and glad that I did it. It was good that it asked me how I would prevent it. Identifying someone who intends to act on their thoughts at a station is tricky.

I did a two day 'Mental Health First Aid' course last year and it was superb. Very thorough, very thought provoking, and very helpful.
Mine was through my Trade Union, oddly enough, but it is well worth the time and effort if you possibly can attend one (I believe there are also half-day versions).
Details of the course I went on are on the Mental Health First Aid England website at: https://mhfaengland.org/. I'm sure there are similar organisations in the other nations.

Thanks for the link.
 
Joined
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I did a two day 'Mental Health First Aid' course last year and it was superb. Very thorough, very thought provoking, and very helpful.
Mine was through my Trade Union, oddly enough, but it is well worth the time and effort if you possibly can attend one (I believe there are also half-day versions).
Details of the course I went on are on the Mental Health First Aid England website at: https://mhfaengland.org/. I'm sure there are similar organisations in the other nations.

Another suicide prevention training is offered for free from Zero Suicide Alliance - see https://www.zerosuicidealliance.com/training/
I have done it myself and they use simple and clear language, helps to gain some basic skills on how to spot signs and approach someone at risk.
 
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Just filled it in. Good luck with it all.

Done - let's hope someone can make sense of the responses!

As a retired mental health nurse, who also suffers with mental health problems and provides emotional support to my fiancé who is quite disabled by his mental health problems- I was very interested in this and it was very thought provoking. I am studying psychology too but I hadn’t thought of this.
Good luck with the study :)

Great survey and agree it's thought provoking.

As someone who has mental health issues with the train being the option I would use, I thought it was very helpful and glad that I did it. It was good that it asked me how I would prevent it. Identifying someone who intends to act on their thoughts at a station is tricky.

Thanks for the link.


Thank you all - I hope we will get a better understanding of such an important matter and understand from all perspectives what makes a safe and effective intervention. Your experiences are much appreciated! Thank you for sharing!
If you have any further questions about the study you can email me at [email protected]
 
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