“Suicide prevention is everybody’s business,” says Susan Murray, CEO of Suicide Prevention Australia.
Personal trainer, Liam Zollo, 26, has made it just that.
Last year, a close family friend sent a chilling text message, admitting she was “done with everything and this would be her last point of contact.”
Mr Zollo rushed to her house. Thankfully the 15-year-old hadn’t been fatally harmed.
Although traumatic, he says, it sparked an idea to ignite awareness and support for those dealing with depression and mental health.
“Ever since that point I felt like I wanted to do something to help.
“I don’t want people to feel like they have to get to that point where they have to take their own lives,” says Mr Zollo.
It was from these thoughts that drove Liam Zollo to organize a “World Record Attempt Biggest Boxing Class” for suicide prevention.
“I knew someone who did a 24-hour fun run for Suicide Prevention Australia and it hit me straight away, I had to do something to help this girl out and what better way than to do a world record boxing event with Suicide Prevention Australia.
“A boxing class always brings good energy, everyone likes to punch something and get their frustration out and the direct prevention of depression and anxiety is exercise so I thought it just fit,” says Liam Zollo.
According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics 2011, the average number of suicides per year is 2,320, with males generally three to four times more likely to take their lives.
These rates have decreased amongst youth; however, there has been a trend towards men in their middle years (30-49) having the highest rates of suicide.
Dr Fiona Shand, psychologist at the Black Dog Institute, suggests that men are more likely to end their life because of their choice on lethal attempts.
“Although women may have more failed attempts, often men are more capable.
“Males are prone to isolate and we often find that depression and talk of taking their life occurs when a relationship ends,” says Dr Shand.
These findings influenced twenty-five mental health organisations such as Suicide Prevention Australia, The Black Dog Institute and BeyondBlue to begin a ‘collective impact approach’, which aims to come together with a common agenda and hopefully halve suicide rates over the next decade.
Susan Murray says it’s about "identifying all the resources that we are currently delivering independently and coming together to design new programs and activities that are consistent with the goals that we all agree on.”
Black Dog worker, Nic, 27, knows the effects of mental health and importance of suicide prevention all too well.
Offered a scholarship into high school, Nic was a “happy and normal” child.
“Half way through Year 7 I started getting quite anxious; not suicidal thoughts to begin with, just a lot of anxious worrying and taking on all the problems of the world on board,” he describes.
Nic’s older brother had experienced depression, so his parents were able to identify the warning signs from an early stage.
“They noticed me being a lot angrier than I usually was and not concentrating so much at school, so mum took me to see a local psychologist.”
It was then Nic received the first of many diagnoses; anxiety.
“Every six months or so, I had a new diagnosis with no certainty that this was the problem and that this medication would certainly fix it, and it never did. It was very disheartening,” says Nic.
In Year 8, Nic’s depression was worsening, so he was admitted into Rivendell psychiatric unit.
“It was a really sad time of my life because for the first time I realized I wasn’t going to live the future that I had planned out but it was also a good experience because for the first time I actually met other people my age that were going through the same problems and we were all actually able to talk about what was going on," he says.
“What is just so exhausting is actually having to pretend nothing is wrong when something clearly is, so talking about it was the best therapy I could have had."
Over the next four years, Nic was treated with several other diagnoses and underwent shock treatment therapy. Thoughts of taking his life were a “normal” ritual.
“I would sit in the classroom all day and think about how I could do it and I thought everybody did that.”
It was not until his older brother took his life that suicide became a reality for Nic, as he witnessed how it affected his family.
“The tragedy of my brother killing himself is that he didn’t have to," he says.
“If he had been able to stick with it longer and see things differently he wouldn’t have had to die and in a way that was also a bit of a push for me, I realized at that point I knew I had to get better somehow, for my parents,” he says.
At the age of 17, Nic was diagnosed with bi-polar type two. Now taking the right medication, he lives a “normal” and “happy” life.
“If I could go back and change anything, I would still want to have had this condition because it has changed me a lot for the better.
“It is such a treatable thing and it doesn’t have to be a life sentence,” says Nic.
Unfortunately for some, ending your life seems the easiest option, but Liam Zollo hopes to prevent that through his day of boxing.
“I want the event to be about promoting health in a fun way; we have dancers celebrities and ambassadors coming down to show support.
“No one has ever done this before, we need 250 people to make it a Guinness World Record,” says Mr Zollo.
After struggling with depression and attempting to take her own life, 25-year-old psychology student Hayley Purdon hopes she can help influence people to keep fighting.
“People who are struggling just have to hold onto whatever they can and just keep trying," she says.
“It’s not going to work today, you have to work at it and it’s a long road but it is worth it."
Susan Murray believes suicide prevention is an easy action, and everyone can play a role.
“It is easy to hold out a hand to greet someone, it’s easy to smile at someone, it’s easy to open a door for someone, and say thank you, every single person can make these small gestures which make us then feel that we are part of something else, something bigger.
“The two things that are protective for suicide prevention is that ensuring that we have a sense of belonging and a sense of purpose”
* Readers seeking support and information about suicide prevention can contact Lifeline on 13 11 14 or Suicide Call Back Service 1300 659 467.
Share
