That this video is being shown at KH's exemplifies the lack of learning and incompetence of the GB and it's teaching committee. That there is no recommendation to the sister that she obtain professional help is truly reprehensible. The approach taken parallels to a degree, that taken in cases of child abuse - kept in house and away from professional services such as police and child protection departments of local authorities.
If a suicidal individual approaches a General Practitioner for help in the UK, that GP will in all likelihood seek to involve secondary services with haste. If a suicidal individual approaches a hospital's accident and emergency department, the A & E will involve the psychiatric liaison service. Regardless of the route chosen by the suffering individual therefore, the involvement of appropriate professional skills is usually recommended and actioned. Of course, this is evidence of the GP and the A & E department acting in the victims best interests. The same can hardly be said of the responses portrayed in the GB / teaching department's video. A key factor in assessing the sufferer, is whether or not s(he) has suicidal plans. This is an indication of the suicidal thinking progressing to INTENT. Help being given is urgent. Professionals will look at many factors in asssessing the individual including clinical factors such as....
- depression
- suicidal thoughts (ideation)
- suicidal plans (intent)
- hopelessness
- marked restlessness
- etreme lability of mood
- hostility / aggression
- perceptual disturbance - particularly auditory hallucinations instructing the person to harm self
Indications of high suicide risk following act(s) of self harm include...
- evidence of pre-planning
- has considered decision to choose a violent method
- fuly expects or expected to die
- signs of avoidance of discovery and/or intervention
- consciously isolated at time of act
- suicide note
- regret at survival
None of the above pre/post self harm assessment steps even begins to be addressed in the case vignette portrayed in the video as teaching points. The video conveys the idea of elders dealing with the matter to be quite normative and with the situation being speedily assuaged - quite dangerous and unrealistic. Should elders adopt this portrayal as the way to approach such an individual, then they could be placing themselves at risk as their not recommending professional help is clearly deleterious to the individual and in my opinion, quite unchristian.
