Great interest in Trimbos webinar on responding to suicide in education

Suicide figures among young people

Last year, approximately 17 percent of young people between the ages of 12 and 25 had serious suicidal thoughts during the previous three months. This percentage had already increased during the coronavirus period, and it remains consistently high. A small proportion of young people with such thoughts actually make a suicide attempt. Although few young people ultimately die, suicide remains the most common cause of death among young people aged 15 to 20.

Postvention: what exactly is it?

Most people are familiar with the term ‘prevention’ when it comes to suicide. Suicide prevention means preventing suicide. Preventive measures are already available, such as those provided by 113 Suicide Prevention. Examples include their chats and training courses, as well as the ‘Vraag Maar’ online suicide prevention training, in which participants learn how to talk to a young person about suicide.

‘Postvention’ following a suicide, on the other hand, concerns support and aftercare. How can schools respond appropriately when a suicide or suicide attempt has already taken place? You can view postvention as prevention for survivors. Through postvention, we can reduce the impact that a suicide or suicide attempt can have, particularly on vulnerable young people.

What can educational institutions do?

Commissioned by 113 Suicide Prevention, the Trimbos Institute further developed action plans for responding after a suicide or suicide attempt in secondary education, secondary vocational education and higher education. The action plans that were developed provide guidance and structure during the period following a suicide or suicide attempt, which can be accompanied by many emotions.

The webinar

To ensure that the action plans also became known within education, the Trimbos Institute organised the webinar on 2 February together with 113 Suicide Prevention.

During the webinar, Vera Ramaker introduced the topic. Thijs van Vliet discussed the impact of a suicide or suicide attempt on education staff. Various experts were interviewed by moderator Jeroen van Baar. In addition, a practical explanation of the action plans was provided in an instructional video.

An important message that recurred in almost every contribution was the importance of making the topic discussable and of having a crisis team. Many questions came in through the webinar chat, particularly about practical applications.