Highland Council highlights World Suicide Prevention Day

World Suicide Prevention Day will be marked on Friday 10 Sept 2021 and the theme this year is ‘Creating Hope Through Action’.

Following an extremely challenging and difficult year, creating hope and raising awareness of suicide prevention has never been more important. COVID-19 has altered our world as we know it and demanded unprecedented change, which has had an impact on some peoples Mental Health.

Health, Social Care and Wellbeing Committee Chair, Cllr Linda Munro said: “World Suicide Prevention Day is one day of the year in which global awareness is raised of a significant public health crisis. Highland has had a small decrease in deaths by probable suicide in 2020, however worryingly the five year average figures is higher in Highland than the national average. Communities and people of the Highlands are encouraged to collectively work together with health professionals, charities, schools and organisations to demystify the stigma around suicide and poor mental health.”

Cllr Munro added: “Developing additional local services to enable early intervention to support the mental health and emotional wellbeing of people within Highland is crucial, particularly within the current COVID-19 circumstances.”

The Council will be marking the day on Friday with our partners to collectively raise awareness and support communities across Highland to recognise the harms of suicide, raise awareness, reduce stigma and encourage meaningful and safe conversations around suicide.

Suicide is preventable. If you, or someone you know needs support in relation to suicide, you can call Samaritans on 116 123 or Breathing Space on 0800 83 85 87