Life Matters podcast- candid conversations about suicide

Life Matters, which is produced by the Zero Suicide Alliance, is a great new podcast that broadcasts global innovative suicide prevention and bereavement initiatives, as well as serving as a platform for those with lived experience to talk openly about how suicide has affected them. The second episode focuses on the impact of suicide on students and young people, and is guest presented by radio presenter Darryl Morris. This episode showcases a young woman’s suicide prevention campaign in Norway, a personal story of a Scottish student and the loss of her friend to suicide, and the use of metal music to benefit mental health in Northern Ireland. 

In this episode we also hear from Dr Alexandra Pitman, a lecturer in psychiatry at University College London, who has been studying the impact that bereavement by suicide has had on young people. Dr Pitman collected a sample of 3500 students and young people from across the UK to complete a survey to determine the level of impact that being bereaved by suicide at a young age can have on their actions and attitudes in later life. She found that overall, age is a critical factor in coping with grief and that a difficulty in functioning at an early age due to suicide bereavement can have a huge impact. 

Throughout this episode, themes of societal pressure and stigma around suicide are discussed. It is clear that whilst there have been countless campaigns to encourage talking about suicide and mental health, they do not necessarily give us the scripts needed to have these conversations effectively. Dr Pitman suggests that feeling suicidal is actually quite common and normalising these feelings would encourage conversations and make those struggling more likely to seek help, disrupting the pathway to suicide, as there is a small subset of people who are more likely to consider suicide as an option after losing a loved one in this way. 

We would recommend listening to this episode of Life Matters as it is important to hear these informative expert voices and lived experiences to destigmatise the subject of suicide. By openly confronting suicide and suicide-related grief it gives people the permission needed to discuss the things that are troubling them, which is always a positive thing!