What to do if someone posts suicidal content on Facebook/Other Social Media

I found this information on the Sri Lanka Sumithrayo Facebook page and thought it would be useful to share here. Social media is becoming an increasingly popular mode of venting,sharing feelings and there have been instances where people have written posts about suicidal feelings etc. One might feel helpless in this instance, and not know how to react.

This information will help you take action in case you come across something that is a suicide risk on Facebook and other social media.


Report here if someone you know has posted suicidal content on Facebook.

If you see someone who has posted suicidal content on social media, encourage the person to call a suicide helpline. In Sri Lanka there are two helplines that operate but unfortunately not on a 24hrs basis. You can also call these helplines and get advice on how to deal with such a situation.

Sri Lanka Sumithrayo- 0112692909

                                0112696666

CCC Line- 1333

If you believe that the person is in immediate danger, call FALCK Emergency Services on 1990. You can also call 119, the police emergency number.

Educate yourself on the Warning signs of suicide.

Watch this Series of TED Talks

Click on the Link Below!:)

Listen to stories of people who have gone through mental health problems and remember that you are not alone.


The Struggle of Mental Health

Comedians Battling the Blues- Depression the Silent Killer

I heard the news about Robin William's death at the breakfast table today. It came as quite a shock, mostly after hearing the cause of death. It is speculated to be suicide. He had taken his own life.

Robin Williams has won the hearts of so many people around the world with his brilliant acting. He portrayed human issues through his acting, and many of the films he acted in were joyous, funny, but some of them had a sad feel about them too. Patch Adams is one of my favourite films in which Robin Williams plays the part of the clown doctor Patch, and he did a wonderful job of it.

Hearing about his death, the question arose. Here is a comedian, who makes other people laugh until their stomachs hurt, and is loved for his hilarious nature, but according to reports has been battling depression. One would think, being the happy comedian that he is, that nothing could make him blue. We tend to take seemingly happy people for granted, thinking that they know how to handle their lives. They are on top of it all. They live to make others laugh, but are they laughing inside?

Depression can hit you when you least expect it. It creeps up on you, and you wont even know it. It's a silent killer, but a deadly one when aggravated. It is like the common cold now, so rampant and still spreading it's tentacles without any inhibition. You might ask yourself, why? Is it the genetics? lifestyles? thought patterns? brain chemistry?. One can ask and ask, but still remain stuck. Science has given reasons as to why depression occurs, but is science everything?.

Rejection, loss, overwhelming pain, hopelessness, disillusionment, are all words we associate depression with. Yes, they are very much a part of the depressive chain, and the links only seem to get stronger and stronger. Society does not have time for feelings any more, they are not validated, given any importance, but shunned and avoided at every opportunity. I might be generalizing a great deal here, but it happens. Parents do not listen to feelings of their children, maybe because their parents never listened to them. We don't know how to be emotionally present with another person. The skill required is absent. I myself am a culprit sometimes, though I might work in the field of mental health.

So, here are some ways you can identify and deal with depression.

Depression might look like this...

1. Feelings of emptiness, apathy, and being seemingly numb.
2. Lack of interest in activities you were once so passionate about.
3. Fatigue, often unexplained.
4. Sleep patterns going haywire.
5. Deterioration in personal hygiene; you might not feel like washing and brushing as often as you are used to.
6.  Your appetite will start to play tricks on you. You might eat more than you usually do, or you might not feel like eating at all.
7. You might find yourself withdrawing from social circles, relationships, and finding comfort in isolating yourself.
8. Waking up every morning might be a tough thing to do.
9.  Lethargy might hit you from all corners.
10. You might get irritated for so called ' little things' which might not be little for you at that moment.
11. Your arms and legs might feel heavy.
12. There might be unexplained shoulder and neck pain.
13. Gastritis might appear out of the blue and so might headaches.  
14. You might feel like wanting to harm yourself or end your life, and also feel guilty about feeling the way you feel.


So how do we deal with ' Dear D'? 

1. Listen.
2. Try not to judge or evaluate.
3. I know we like to give advice, but try not to.
4. Don't press the other person's buttons too much. Give him/her space.
5. Put your feeling cap on and not your thinking cap.
6. Try not to harp on meditation and other religious practices unless the person himself sees it as a coping mechanism.  Meditation is not the answer to everything,and it can sometimes backfire.
7. Avoid phrases like ' Aney Pau Oyaata' or ' ay ohoma hithanne?' or ' Aney oovath prashnada?'.
8. ' Why' questions must be avoided.
9. Break the stigma and encourage the person to seek help.
10. Don't panic mate. Depression can be treated.

Who is a Psychologist?

You might have heard of different kinds of Psychologists. Clinical Psychologists, Counselling Psychologists, Child Psychologists,Forensic Psychologists, Educational Psychologists, Business Psychologists, and the list goes on. The different sub-disciplines of Psychology mentioned above have their own unique characteristics, and they require specialized training.

A Psychologist will usually have a Masters or a Doctorate, and will have received comprehensive training in psychotherapy, assessment techniques, diagnostic skills, research and evaluation and other specialized skills required. Pharmacology is not used to help those with Psychological problems, but talk therapies are used, along with behavioural interventions. Some states in the United States permit Clinical Psychologists with additional training to prescribe medicines, but that is a rare occurance elsewhere in the world.

You will find Psychologists at hospitals, rehabilitation centres, schools, coorporate establishments and also at educational institutions. They might also work in muti-disciplinary teams along with Psychiatrists, Counsellors, Social Workers, Teachers, Nurses etc. 

Who is a Psychiatrist?

A Psychiatrist is a medical professional with a MBBS and then a M.D. in Psychiatry, who deals essentially with treating psychological disorders using pharmacology, or in simple terms, medication. There are also medical officers of mental health (MO.MH) attached to several district hospitals in Sri Lanka who are usually diploma holders in Psychiatry. There are some Psychiatrists who are trained in non-pharmacological interventions like Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, and also in Psychological Counselling. They are able to offer both the medication aspect and the therapeutic aspect of treatment.

A Psychiatrist can be seen usually in a hospital setting, but sometimes you find them in the community too. You would also find them in rehabilitation centres, or as a part of multi-disciplinary healthcare teams in various settings.There is a vast range of problems that a Psychiatrist is trained to treat, and sometimes they work in collaboration with a Psychologist, Counsellor or a Psychiatric Social Worker.

12 Populations at Higher Risk of HIV

The Importance of Being Aware

The intention of writing this blog is to spread awareness and information on issues related to mental health. Awareness is the starting point for potential change and transformation, and without awareness we tend to make ignorant choices. Ignorant choices lead to poor health, low well-being and poor prognosis in terms of recovery from illness.

Mental health awareness is a hot topic in the current era due to the rising levels of disability and illness in the world. The World Health Organization has predicted that by the year 2020 depression will be among the top four major conditions that would cause a public health concern. There is conflict, poverty, dysfunctional family systems, poor coping skills, and elevated levels of stress that leave people predisposed to psychological illness. This creates an immediate shift in the level of functioning of those affected and therefore cascades down to their families, workplaces, relationships, and all other aspects in their lives. However, as redundant as it may seem, awareness is still the key to move towards healthy communities and thereafter a healthy society. The dissemination of information needs to be more on a grass-root level rather than a top down mechanism. The free flow of information and awareness would help people make informed choices and health decisions.

Awareness should ideally reach all strata’s of society, without there being a divide between the haves and the have nots. This would help reduce the pungent, powerful stigma that exists against psychological illness, not only in developing countries but also in developed countries, though one may not necessarily acknowledge this. Stigma survives due to the lack of sensitisation, information and sensitivity. We often facilitate it's existence, sometimes to satiate our own needs, and in a society, stigma often begins at the governance level, trickling down to the masses, leaving an acrid stench of apathy, prejudice and decadence.

Now, how do we battle this apparent lack of awareness and information?.

Mental health, terminal illness, are not 'juicy' topics from what I've heard from different people in the media, and the lack of 'juice' immediately brings down sales of newspapers,magazines etc, again this is not only my view, but the general view of those with an inkling of sensitivity. It is somewhat frustrating and sad that the 'juice' decides what gets published and what gets ignored. People killing each other, politicians backstabbing each other, the growing rates of disasters, have priority in today's media  but not important, relevant issues like mental health, HIV/AIDS prevention, and the list could just go on. Television grants precious advertising space for political campaigns, beauty products, and sometimes just nonsensical ranting, but where is the space for people, to get information and knowledge about ' people issues'?. There is something fundamentally wrong with what our priorities are.

Information about healthy ways of living, disease prevention, reciprocal relationships, making safe choices and where to seek help, could potentially lead to a society which is tolerant, healthy and informed. This seed has to be germinated, nurtured and sustained.  This can only be done by the people, and by people I mean the common man. We cannot rely on our leaders, politicians, or our bodies of governance, and leave our health in their hands. We have to be active participants of this process and not passive recipients. Change happens when we genuinely want it to happen, and not when we wait for it to happen. Transformation happens when we transform our inner selves first, not when we sit on our behinds and long for transformation to happen. This is a plea, to all the people, who encounter this blog. Please get off your behinds, and talk about issues that matter to you, that affect you and others that you care about.