Lived Experience Network
Thinking about your
personal readiness to be involved
So you have the time and availability to get involved and share your lived experience in suicide
prevention activities but are you emotionally and mentally ready?
Talking about suicide, sharing your insights, learning about research, policy and programs, and so on,
can be an incredibly rewarding, healing and hopeful experience but it can also be emotionally and
mentally draining and can have an impacts on your physical and emotional wellbeing.
The way this effects you can also change over time and depend on all the other things, the ups and
downs, occurring in your life.
How this guide can help you
This guide is intended to help you assess your
personal readiness to be involved in suicide
prevention activities. It draws on the
experiences of other individuals with lived
experience of suicide as well as advice from
professionals who work every day with people
touched by suicide.
It is intended for anyone with a lived
experience of suicide, defined by Suicide
Prevention Australia (SPA) as ‘having
experienced suicidal thoughts, survived a
suicide attempt, cared for someone who was
suicidal, been bereaved by suicide, or having
been touched by suicide in another way.’
For those who are already involved in suicide
prevention activities, it is worth pausing on a
regular basis to reflect on how your
involvement is affecting your mental and
physical health.
Integrating your experience with
suicide into your world view and
sense of self
Every person has their own unique response
to suicide and there are no right or wrong
responses. Words that are often used to
describe an experience with suicide include
catastrophic, numbing, devastating,
overwhelming, exhausting, confusing,
triggering, and so on. These are highly
emotionally charged words.
Last reviewed 30 October, 2014
© 2014 Suicide Prevention Australia
Some people report achieving significant
insights about their sense of self and
connection to life while others find their
world view shattered and confusing.
It can be difficult to find a new balance where
you are able to think constructively about
your experience and not become
overwhelmed with emotions or left feeling
vulnerable.
Most people find they need time to reflect on
their experience before getting involved in
suicide prevention activities.
Reflection points:
 What words do you use to describe your
experience with suicide? Have these
changed over time? Do they still carry the
same charge of emotion now compared to
in the immediate weeks or months after
the crisis?
 What are your energy levels like after
thinking or talking about your experience
with suicide? If you experience a drop in
energy, how long does it take you to regain
your energy? Does this have an impact on
other parts of your life such as
relationships with family, friends or work
colleagues, or your physical or mental
health?
 To what extent does your experience with
suicide contribute to your sense of self?
How is this different to your sense of self
before suicide entered your life?
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Lived Experience Network
Thinking about your
personal readiness to be involved
Length of time since crisis
There are no hard and fast rules about the
length of time that has passed since your
experience with suicide however, suicide
prevention professionals will generally
provide the following recommendations
based on their work with individuals touched
by suicide:
If you have lost a loved one by suicide allow
at least 12 months to pass before getting
involved in suicide prevention.
If you have made a suicide attempt allow at
least 6 months to pass since your most recent
suicide attempt.
These recommendations are provided to help
ensure individuals’ are not vulnerable when
making a decision to participate. Levels of
vulnerability can change over time as
suicidality and grief may resurface.
Reflection points:
 What would it be like to discuss your
readiness to get involved in suicide
prevention activities with a trusted person
such as a friend, family member, mental
health professional, or crisis line?
 Are there particular times when you know
that you feel more vulnerable? This may
be anniversary dates or birthdays, times of
increased stress, or special events like
Christmas or holidays.
Asking the tough question:
What’s my motivation?
You may not be aware of this but mental
health professionals undertake significant and
ongoing training and supervision to ensure
they are putting the interests of their client
first. Without these skills and reflection it is
easy to allow personal thoughts and feelings
to interfere with professional relationships.
Individuals with lived experience also need to
be aware of the motivation behind their
involvement in suicide prevention activities as
it helps them identify the right type of activity
to be involved in given their motivation.
Again, this may change over time and with the
ups and downs of life.
It’s not always an easy and straightforward
process to identify your motivation to be
involved in an activity. This requires selfreflection and is often best done by talking to
a trusted confidant or a mental health
professional. Be gentle with yourself and
don’t judge or appraise your motivation:
There are no right or wrong answers.
One way of helping uncover your motivation
is to ask yourself the question ‘who will
benefit from my involvement?’
Two common underlying themes are:
 I will, for example, this will help me heal,
help me make sense of my experience,
help me channel my emotional energy.
 Others will, for example, constructive
improvements can be made to suicide
prevention via my contribution to
research, policy or program design.
Most people will find that they have a mix of
these two themes of motivation. Think about
which motivation is currently dominant and
try to find suicide prevention activities that
will satisfy this motivation.
Last reviewed 30 October, 2014
© 2014 Suicide Prevention Australia
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Lived Experience Network
Thinking about your
personal readiness to be involved
Finding the right type of involvement
to match your motivation
There are a broad range of suicide prevention
activities available to participate in. Your
involvement in any level of activity will add
value and help create a community that
values and supports everyone.
Some examples matched to these two themes
of motivation include:
 I will: Participation in activities that focus
on healing such as community
remembrance or awareness events such as
walks on World Suicide Prevention Day,
involvement in peer support groups or
fundraising activities, participation in
research (especially where there are good
support mechanisms in place such as
access to counsellors if you become
vulnerable during the research process).
These are more likely to require short-term
commitment or be one-off activities and
allow you time between activities to heal
and process your emotions and thoughts.
 Others will: Activities such as participation
in consultation process or events,
involvement to in committees or working
groups, organising community events, or
undertaking speakers training to share
your story at public events or in the media.
These are more likely to be ongoing
activities that require a commitment of
time and energy over the medium- to longterm.
Last reviewed 30 October, 2014
© 2014 Suicide Prevention Australia
Ongoing self-care
Sometimes involvement in suicide prevention
activities can bring up unexpected emotions,
feelings, and memories. It is important that
you have a ready set of self-care strategies to
draw on to nurture your wellbeing.
The ‘Guide to self-care’ will assist you as you
reflect on your self-care strategies.
Reflection points:
 What are you already doing to practice
self-care in the physical, psychological,
emotional, spiritual, and
workplace/volunteer realms? What
additional strategies can you put in place?
Sharing your personal experience of
suicide
Here are some useful points to assist you in
deciding to share your personal experiences
with suicide:
 Remember that if you do not want to
make a comment, ask a question or share
your story, you do not have to. While some
people feel it is important to share, that is
not true for everyone.
 Consider what information is useful for
your audience to know. This will change
depending on the situation and the
audience. It is generally not helpful to
discuss methods of suicide or suicide
attempt (such as hanging or overdose),
locations of suicide or suicide attempt
(such as naming a particular bridge or
building), and further details or graphic
descriptions should generally be avoided.
Sharing such information may be harmful
to individuals in your audience who are
feeling vulnerable.
 Be prepared for different personal
perspectives on suicide and respect others
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Lived Experience Network
Thinking about your
personal readiness to be involved
opinions. Suicide is very complex and no
two situations are the same. Suicide
attempt survivors and those bereaved by
suicide often approach the topic of suicide
from very different places: Conversations
between the two groups can sometimes
generate intense emotions. Some
researchers and professionals may talk
about suicide in a way that seems
impersonal and detached but this does not
mean that they are without compassion
for those touched by suicide. Let us value
and respect the contributions of all
individuals.
 If you are asked a question that you would
prefer not to answer, it is perfectly
acceptable to decline to answer, saying
something like, “I appreciate your
interest/concern/curiosity, but I hope you
understand that I don’t feel comfortable
discussing that.”
 Before you share a story of how you have
been touched by suicide, consider how
other people involved in the story or
connected to the deceased/subject may
feel about the details being discussed in
public. If possible, talk to these people
before you speak publicly about the
suicide or suicide attempt. Also consider
any legal processes that may be in
progress such as a coronial inquiry.
Sometimes it can disrupt the legal process
if unconfirmed details about a death are
publicly described as a suicide. Remember
that it is very difficult to retract
information or your story once it is
published on the internet.
See also ‘Talking About Suicide: A Guide to
Language’.
Last reviewed 30 October, 2014
© 2014 Suicide Prevention Australia
Begin with the end in mind
Right from the start it is important that you
give yourself permission to withdraw or take a
break from involvement in suicide prevention
activities if you find your wellbeing is
negatively impacted.
Many people find this difficult. A common
reaction after experiencing suicide loss or
crisis is a desire to find or create some good
out of a painful experience (“if I could just
help prevent another person from
experiencing this…”). Some people report that
they are afraid to stop their activity as more
suicide will occur or they are unsure about
what their life will be like without an active
role in suicide prevention. These are all
normal reactions.
Remember that suicide is very complex and
responsibility for suicide prevention does not
rest with any one individual alone.
If you are unsure if you need to withdraw or
take a break from your involvement in suicide
prevention activities, try talking about it with
a trusted person such as a friend, family
member, mental health professional, or crisis
line. You can also raise your concerns with the
lived experience activity coordinator at the
organisation you are involved with.
Crisis line contacts (available 24/7)
Suicide Call Back Service 1300 65 94 67
www.suicidecallbackservice.org.au
Lifeline 13 11 14 www.lifeline.org.au
Mensline 1300 78 99 78 www.mensline.org.au
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