Suicide Prevention Training at CISF BCPL
M Hashim Ali, Dibrugarh, Rongili Barta- In a significant step towards enhancing mental health support and creating awareness on suicide prevention within the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) community, the Arunit Centre for Psychological Management & Research, a leading mental health organisation of Dibrugarh, conducted a comprehensive ‘Gatekeeper Training Program for Suicide Prevention’ on 26th September, 2023 at CISF BCPL Township, Dibrugarh. The program was tailored to address the unique challenges faced by CISF personnel that can have paramount impact on their mental well-being. The training program which involved a skill-based experiential learning framework, provided participants with essential knowledge to identify individuals at risk of suicide, understand about different intervention strategies, offer appropriate support and connect them with necessary mental health related resources. Mrs Brinda Baruah Sharma, a clinical & child psychologist from Assam Medical College & Hospital and Ms Sumedha Bordoloi, a mental health educator, were the training facilitators from Arunit organisation. Mrs Brinda spoke on length about the importance of understanding suicide, the different risk factors involved and how one can assess the risk of suicide in an individual. Mrs Sharma also discussed about essential communication that one must adopt while initiating a conversation with a person in distress. Ms. Sumedha Bordoloi communicated about burn-out and self-care in the CISF community and gave hands on training on few relaxation techniques for managing chronic burnout. The training program was followed by the release and distribution of an IEC resource (Brochure) on Suicide Prevention for supplementing the trainees’ understanding on the issue and empowering them to initiate suitable and sustainable actions at the time of crisis.