On Oct. 5 and 6, a group of 15 Carleton students participated in an Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training (ASIST) workshop at the university.
The workshop, led by Jack Hicks, aims to train people to be more alert of psychological distress in their peers and to give them the confidence to talk about the subject of suicide.
Hicks said he started working with the ASIST program five years ago while living in Nunavut.
“I took the workshop and was really impressed,” he said. “I wanted to get involved.”
The course teaches people to be able to recognize “the signs,” and react to them right away. Hicks compared it to “suicide first-aid.”
“If someone were to collapse onto their lawn from a heart attack, anyone who’s taken a first-aid course could help them,” he said. “You wouldn’t need to be a heart surgeon to help them.”
Similar skills were taught at the ASIST training, he said. Students learned to detect the signs of a person in psychological distress, how to take appropriate action, and to negotiate conversation.
“Everyone loves the training. The evaluations are super positive,” Hicks said. “You see people walk out, sometimes people who are scared of the topic or who have maybe lost someone, and they have mastery over something that used to have mastery over them.”
“We do lots of role playing activities,” he said. “And even though it’s role play, it feels very real. It’s great practice.”
Hicks suggested that residence fellows take the training.
“They are in the position to meet students who have money stuff, relationship stuff, grades stuff, all crashing down around them at the same time,” he said.
Hicks said he wants to spread the word about how to prevent suicide.
“It’s a large part about breaking the silence about suicide. The data’s quite clear and shows how little we do about it.”
“My hope is that Carleton’s administration shows leadership on evidence-informed suicide prevention by delivering suicide intervention training to as many staff and students who would like to take it,” Hicks said.
“What possible reason is there not to strive to be a suicide-safer university campus?”
