Upward trend in usage of free Prevent Suicide Highland app
Register for free to read more of the latest local news. It's easy and will only take a moment.
An upward trend has been reported in the use of the Prevent Suicide Highland smartphone app which was launched five years ago.
NHS Highland GP Dr James Douglas said: "Unfortunately distressed young people completing suicide has become a tragic problem for many families and communities in Highland. It is now the biggest cause of death in young people in Highland."
The free app is a Highland Community Planning Partnership initiative to provide information and support to communities. It aims to provide awareness about suicide and preventative information to support people feeling suicidal or family, friends and professionals to support individuals – and offers local and national contacts.
It includes a so-called safety planning element which can be completed with the help of support in situations where people are feeling distressed or suicidal. The tool is for helping someone when their feelings and urges become overwhelming. Each safety plan is individual to the person, and it includes people to contact, personal warning signs, and reasons to live.
In the past year there have been 955 new users, which works out at around 80 new users a month, compared with an average of 66 new users a month over the past 60 months. More than 4000 people have accessed or installed the app since it launched.
A partnership spokesperson said: "Suicide is complex, and often multifactorial. The app provides information and contacts for a wide variety of services around the wider determinants of suicidal distress, for example money worries, gambling, bullying, drug and alcohol support.
"Prevent Suicide Highland app also includes guidance on what members of the public can do to help someone who is feeling suicidal. It includes information and support to have conversations if someone is distressed or suicidal, signs to look out for and how you can help.
"Losing someone to suicide can cause overwhelming shock and grief and can continue long after a loss. Prevent Suicide Highland app includes information and support for those who have been bereaved by suicide."
The app is reviewed four times a year, so information is kept updated.
Siobhan Leen, health improvement specialist at NHS Highland, said: “It is very important to keep promoting that the Prevent Suicide Highland app is available to anyone who may need it – this can include someone in distress, a family member or loved one, or practitioners working in Highland communities."
