Suicide Prevention Workshop Module for Schools and Colleges- AASRA

Suicide Prevention Workshop Module for Schools and Colleges
By AASRA -Suicide prevention NGO

Target Groups : 9th, 10th Stds , FYJC, SYJC, TY Graduates course student, Engineering Students, Students of Medicine & other high stress professional courses...



The Coping skills program for student stress management


Can you cope with stress?
Life is stressful! How do you react to the stressors of fast-paced living? Do you have the resilience to withstand life's trials and tribulations? Are you a survivor?
Everybody is exposed to stressful situations, both positive and negative. Stress is an integral element in the lives of all creatures, and it plays an important role in survival. Nevertheless, stress can have negative effects on our physical and emotional health. Interestingly, what matters is not the number of stressful situations that we are exposed to, nor the amount of stress that we have to withstand. More important is our perception and subjective interpretation of the stressor, and how we react to it.
Virtually all living beings routinely utilize coping skills in daily life. When helping humans deal with specific problems, professional counselors have found that a focus of attention on coping skills (with or without remedial action) often helps individuals. The range of successful coping skills varies widely with the problems to be overcome. However, the learning and practice of coping skills are generally regarded as very helpful to most individuals. Even the sharing of learned coping skills with others is often beneficial.



Awareness Interaction
Duration : 3 hrs Capacity : Large groups
Venue Requirement: Large Hall with audio-visual equipment and good sound clarity
Programme:
Power Point Presentation on Stress
Interaction(Q & A)
Film Show
Interaction(Q & A)
Film Show
Interaction(Q & A)
Power Point Presentation on Signs and Symptoms of Depression & Suicide & Pointers towards a emotionally healthy you.
Inspiration story by guest speaker.

Cost: Donation of Rs. 5000/- in the name of AASRA




Workshop: Coping Skills for teens(Students)
Duration: 2 hours Max: capacity: 60
Venue Requirement: Spacious Open room with movable chairs to accommodate experiential group sessions
Tools Required: Black Board, Chalk, Computer Aided Projector & Screen for PowerPoint Presentation/Video
Lesson 1: COPING SKILLS
A relaxing interactive workshop identifying personal and group stresses, available internal and external resources, and cognitive perception tools. Workshop will include discussion then practice of relaxation techniques. In addition, there will be a relaxation exercise which will help reduce stress.
Objective: Managing thoughts and feelings through increasing coping skills. (Stress Managment)
Methodology: There will be ice breakers, group interactive sessions, general discussions, Power Point Presentations , tips for coping and handouts.
The session will end with An inspirational talk of 5-10 minutes (may be included as per availability of speaker).


Workshop: Effective Parenting and facilitation for Parents & Teachers
Duration: 2 hours Max: capacity: 60
Venue Requirement: Spacious Open room with movable chairs to accommodate experiential group sessions
Tools Required: Black Board, Chalk, Computer Aided Projector & Screen for PowerPoint Presentation/Video

Being a parent is a wonderful opportunity and blessing. But it can also be full of heartaches and tears of frustration. Most parents have never learned how to parent so they follow their parent's example. This approach is not always skillful - and being a good parent does take skills.
Objective: This workshop will help facilitate better understanding of the skills required to handle teens by Identifying local stressors, signs of suicidal intent and reiterating effective parenting skills.
Due to shortage of manpower, the workshops will be conducted one after the other with a break of 30 minutes in between. A sum total of 3 (maybe even 4 if time permits) workshops can be completed in a day. Start time ideally would be 11 am and end time could be 8.30pm. Snacks, tea, coffee , Lunch will have to be provided. There will be four facilitators and a guest speaker – honorariums to be provided for them which could take care of travel and other expenses for the day. All handouts and materials used for the presentations should also be taken care of by the host organization, as per requirement.
The facilitators will not require a fee for their services but would be honored if the host organization could make a generous donation to the organization(AASRA) to support it’s efforts in Suicide Prevention.
All workshops will have to be conducted in the abovementioned manner in order that the participants gain the maximum from the exercise.

Suggestions for funding the workshop:
1) the organizers could levy a charge of Rs.10 per participant to meet the expenses of conducting the workshop.
2) Involve sponsors.



Hope this information will suffice .
Looking forward to hearing from you.
With regards,
Johnson Thomas
Director
Aasra

Is luck related to one's state of mind?

Can I have all the luck? I cannot. But I can do one thing; I can ensure that my mind is open to all the opportunities that come my way. When I fail to act upon such opportunities, then I am unlucky. Even to create opportunities one needs a appropriate starting point, which requires a balanced view of the existing situation.

Luck is dependent on one's state of mind. A calm mind, an open mind, is more receptive, more creative and more positive.One needs to work towards maintaining an open, unbiased and clear mind. Each one of us has to come up with their own methods to achieve this. Some prefer yoga or alternate methods of meditation, some prefer listening to music and for some, sleeping does the trick.

The emphasis is on, improving the quality of the mind.Success and happiness will follow.

Important Note: The thoughts in above article were inspired & extrapolated from the article by Richard Wiseman (link below). I have not read his book and I am not sure if they appear in the book in any form. http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/life/spirituality/speaking-tree/Why-some-people-have-all-the-luck/articleshow/3896391.cms

Suicide Survivors Day Progam organised by Aasra

Appended below are links to the partial recordings of the event ‘Suicide Survivors Day’ held at HELP library on 12 Dec(instead of 21 Nov) 2009. Organised and devised by Aasra with video support from American Foundation for suicide prevention.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IIkb-L-DD1I

This video is a Talk conducted by Mr.Johnson Thomas(Aasra) at HELP on 12th Dec' 09 : topic - "Re-engaging with Life" Mr.Johnson Thomas(Aasra Helpline) can be contacted at 022-27546669

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ossGPuKUj8&NR=1 (Re-engaging with Life Part 1.wmv)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=774cuWNN-bw (Re-engaging with Life Part 2.wmv)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z8Ncrxv7h4Y (Re-engaging with Life Part 3.wmv)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZigAcDdVCQQ&feature=related (Re-engaging with Life Part 4.wmv)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IXfhIHX29uY&feature=related (Re-engaging with Life Part 5.wmv)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pXBvBl-TZ9s&feature=related (Re-engaging with Life Part 6.wmv)
Aasra activities Dec 2009, Jan,Feb 2010

Aasra volunteers conducted a program for suicide survivors day on Dec 12 the gist of which is appended below.
We also had consultations with other NGO's and Medical professionals with regards to networking and developing modules that will be more effective in suicide prevention under two seperate aegis-
1) The Nargis Dutt Memorial trust, Fly & 1298(mayor's initiative) on the 4th Feb 2010
2) The Observer Research foundation on the 6th of Feb 2010



Aasra volunteers also took up a stall at an NGO mela conducted by SIES college in Nerul , Navi Mumbai on th 30th of Jan. The response from the students to the information, posters , workshop lists was very heartening. Some even signed up as potential volunteers and there were others who wanted to experience the workshops.

Aasra has also had a few consultations with schools and colleges and medical professionals to draw up a plan for sector wise targetting of vulnerable groups including parents, teachers and students considering the alarming rise in student suicides in Dec 2009-Jan2010 in Mumbai/Pune. We plan to conduct open forum discussions for parents and teachers and coping skills workshops for students of the 9th,10th,12th and final year college students as they are considered crucial make or break years in a students life.

The director was quoted in sev eral broadcasts and podcasts by Mint, BBC, Rediff.com, Radio Australia, Al jazeera channel, Canadian radio, Morgan Passi
As It Happens, Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
205 Wellington St. W
Toronto, ON CANADA
M5V 3G7

+1+(416)-205-2824
morgan.passi@cbc.ca

Feel free to peruse our show's website, available at
www.cbc.ca/asithappens/

Washington Post, Indian Newspapers Times of India,Navi Mumbai Hindustan Times, Mumbai Mirror, DNA, Asian Age, The Free press Journal, the Indian Express, India Today, Yuva, The Week, Samna, Maharashtra Times, Loksatta, Television channels like NDTV, IBM Lokmat, Bindass, TV9 etc broadcast our helpline numbers and continue to do so.



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Suicide Survivors Day Dec 12
To be held at HELP library 3.30 pm to 5.30 pm.

Invitation performa

AASRA

invites you to a commemoration of 'Suicide Survivors Day'

Surviving Suicide
Life's challenges are not supposed to paralyze you, they're supposed to help you discover who you are.
-- Bernice Johnson Reagon
Life does not cease to be funny when people die; any more than it ceases to be serious when people laugh.
-- George Bernard Shaw
I've learned that every day you should reach out and touch someone. People love a warm hug, or just a friendly pat on the back.
-- Maya Angelou
No one is in control of your happiness but you; therefore, you have the power to change anything about yourself or your life that you want to change. - More Quotes by Barbara de Angelis
Sometimes in life, events occur that break the very foundation on which we stand. Our life, as we have known it, seems forever changed and we find ourselves in an unexpected struggle, first just to survive and then to move forward.
For people who have lost a family member or friend to suicide, grief is often complicated by feelings of anger, shame, fear and guilt
Know that people can and do survive and even go beyond surviving. You can and will survive. You are with friends.

Event Details:

on Saturday, 12th Dec 2009, 3.15pm to 5.30pm

Program entitled 'Re-engaging with Life'

The program begins with a brief introduction by Johnson Thomas, Director ,AASRA, followed by a Welcome dance by noted danseuse Jeroo Chavda who will also recite a few lines from one of the greatest authors of Indian Literature and a sterling humanitarian, Mulk Raj Anand(The occasion is also his anniversary).An audio visual presentation from the American Foundation of Suicide Prevention followed by personal testimonies from a few (select and willing) survivors/family members, a song 'heal the world' by Aaskash Francis, a young supporter of AASRA and the evening will end with a soothing classical music recital by noted Sarod player Vivek Joshi.



Venue:
at Help Library,
DN Rd,
Opp CST station, the McDonalds' side leading towards fountain.

Hope to see you there

with best regards,
Johnson Thomas
Director
AASRA

www.aasra.info
Mob: 9820466726
Helpline: 27546669
office:27546667
email: aasrahelpline@yahoo.com
Suicide Survivors Day (Originally Nov 21) re-Scheduled for Dec 12
To be held at HELP library 3.30 pm to 5.30 pm.
PROGRAM ON THE DAY



GOOD afternoon friends. Aasra welcomes you to this commemoration function of ‘Suicide Survivors Day.’
Life's challenges are not supposed to paralyze you, they're supposed to help you discover who you are.
-- Bernice Johnson Reagon
Life does not cease to be funny when people die; any more than it ceases to be serious when people laugh.
-- George Bernard Shaw
I've learned that every day you should reach out and touch someone. People love a warm hug, or just a friendly pat on the back.
-- Maya Angelou
No one is in control of your happiness but you; therefore, you have the power to change anything about yourself or your life that you want to change. - Barbara de Angelis


Sometimes in life, events occur that break the very foundation on which we stand. Our life, as we have known it, seems forever changed and we find ourselves in an unexpected struggle, first just to survive and then to move forward.
For people who have lost a family member or friend to suicide and for those who have survived an act of suicide, grief is often complicated by feelings of anger, shame, fear and guilt
Know that people can and do survive and even go beyond surviving. You can and will survive. You are with friends.
I’d like to begin this evening with a poem titled ‘Reflection’- one that was left behind by Y.Doherty when he attempted suicide.
Reflection
Another day for you to wonder, another day for you to mournIt wasn't my intention to go before the coming dawnMy pain was deep within my heart and troubled headIt wasn't my intention to go without words said.My frame of mind seemed normal, or so I heard them sayIt wasn't my intention not to see another dayI did not mean to make you suffer or cause you so much painIt wasn't my intention to never see you again.Despair and confusion left my aching mind unsureIt wasn’t my intention to suddenly close life's doorIf only I could give you reasons and brush the tears awayIt wasn’t my intention to leave and not stay. I did not mean for you to grieve, now left alone to cryIt wasn’t my intention to leave you, forever askinq whyAs the burdens of life's worries slowly ebb from my heartIt wasn’t my intention to tear your soul apart.Y. Docherty
To begin the evening with a bit of culture and formality we have with us noted Kuchipudi danseuse Jeroo Chavda and she will perform a vandana for an auspicious start to the evening.



Today is also humanitarian, author and critic Mulk Raj Anand’s birth anniversary and we would like to take this opportunity to honour his memory by saying a few words about his glorious life.
Mulk Raj Anand was born on 12 th Dec 1905 in Peshawar as the son of a coppersmith and soldier. He attended Khalsa College, Amritsar, and entered the University of Punjab in 1921, graduating with honors in 1924. Thereafter Anand did his additional studies at Cambridge and at London University, receiving his Ph.D. in 1929. He studied - and later lectured - at League of Nations School of Intellectual Cooperation in Geneva. Anand also lectured, on and off between 1932 and 1945, at Workes Educational Association in London.



Mulk Raj Anand was a follower of Gandhi and a passionate advocate of Indian independence. Based in London during the inter-war years, he became part of the Bloomsbury Group and worked at the BBC alongside George Orwell and TS Eliot. His work was championed by EM Forster. Returning to India in 1947, his literary accomplishments gave him the status of a national treasure. Mulk Raj Anand is among the pioneers of the modern Indian Novel in English.
Anand started to write at an early age. He wrote his first prose in reaction to the trauma of the suicide of an aunt who had been excommunicated for dining with a Muslim woman. An unhappy love for a Muslim girl, who was married, inspired more poetry. In the early 1930s Anand wrote books on art history, but it was not until the appearance of the novels Untouchable (1935) and Coolie (1936), the story of a fifteen year-old child-labourer who dies of tuberculosis, that Anand gained wide recognition. Untouchable narrates a day in the life of Bakha, who suffers a number of humiliations in the course of his day. Bakha is an unclean outcaste, fated by his low birth to work as a latrine sweeper. In the novel Anand presented a powerful critique of the Indian caste system and British colonial domination of India, which has actually increased the suffering of outcastes such as Bakha.
In Two Leaves and a Bud (1937) Anand continued his series of socially conscious novels, which shared much with the proletarian novels published in Britain and the United States during the 1930s. The story told about a poor Punjabi peasant who is brutally exploited in a tea plantation and killed by a British official who tries to rape his daughter.





Also Anand's famous trilogy, The Village (1939), Across the Black Waters (1940), and The Sword and the Sickle (1942) was a strong protest against social unjustices. A novelist, playwright, philosopher, poet, essayist, critic, Anand was at heart a social activist and political animal. His writing would highlight injustice with an eloquence that touched people around the world. His close friend Alistair Niven, author of ‘Yoke of Pity’ – a critique of the writings of Mulk Raj Anand said about him “he was a great writer but, even more than that, a very great lover of humankind”.His concern for the disadvantaged and downtrodden is a pervasive theme in much of his writings. His contribution to the preservation and promotion of Indian Art is equally significant and Marg, a magazine dedicated to revealing lesser known facets of the world of art, will remain a lasting testimony to his greatness. Mulk Raj Anand’s ‘realistic and sympathetic’ portrayal of the lives of the poor, disinherited and the disadvantaged will always be remembered.
To continue with the celebration of life- I’d like to now call upon Shreyas Rao to share with us, briefly, his struggle with life.
The floor is open for anyone who would like to share their own personal battles and struggles with living.
Thank you for the sharing.
Akash Francis, a young and enthusiastic AASRA supporter will now render in his own voice the famous Michael Jackson written number ‘Heal The World’.
The next is a video from the ‘American Foundation of Suicide Prevention’ which is being shown across the world on this very day.
They say music heals. We have with us Pandit Vivek Joshi, a sarod player who will now play for us some truly divine and healing music.
Thank you for joining us in this celebration of life. I hope you enjoyed this event.
Report
A total of 55 people turned up for the event of which 22 were male and 23 female. Age groups- 12 from 50 and above age group
22 from the 25-35 age group
16 from the 35-49 age group and 5 from the 15-21 age group.
Their feedback to the event was verbal. Most of those present were vocal in expressing that it was the first time that someone had at least tried to understand their pain and provide some kind of solace.
We plan to have informal support groups running and the participants were eager to be apart of such support groups.

Thanks
With regards,
Johnson Thomas
Director
AASRA

Write up on Teen Suicides in BBC website- by Zubair Ahmed

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/8473515.stm




Alarm at Mumbai's teenage suicide trend

By Zubair Ahmed
BBC News, Mumbai

A writer once said that more than one soul dies in a suicide.

It seems so in Neha Sawant's home. The atmosphere in the tiny flat in Mumbai has been lifeless since the 11-year-old was found hanging from her apartment window.

It has been weeks but her parents are still in deep shock. They look dazed and sleep-deprived.

Neha's distraught grandmother said in a broken voice: "Our brains are not working. We still cannot believe it."

Neha, at 11, must be one of the youngest in Mumbai to commit suicide. Figures suggest that more and more teenagers in India's financial hub are killing themselves.

Dizzying

Inexplicably, teenage suicides have become an almost daily occurrence in Maharashtra - one of India's most developed states - and its capital Mumbai (Bombay).


Rhea Timbekar
Something has gone amiss in [children's] lives quite early and suicides are a manifestation of that
Clinical psychologist Rhea Timbekar

The toll of teenage suicides from the beginning of the year until 26 January 2010 stood at 32, which is more than one a day.

While there are no comparative figures for the same period in 2009, there is a consensus among the concerned authorities in Mumbai that teenage suicides are spiralling out of control.

There is also a general agreement between psychologists and teachers that the main reason for the high number of teenagers taking their own lives is the increasing pressure on children to perform well in exams.

The scale of this largely preventable problem is dizzying - both in India with its billion-plus people and particularly in the state of in Maharashtra.

More than 100,000 people commit suicide in India every year and three people a day take their own lives in Mumbai.

Suicide is one of the top three causes of death among those aged between 15 and 35 years and has a devastating psychological, social and financial impact on families and friends.

'Needless toll'

World Health Organisation Assistant Director-General Catherine Le Gals-Camus points out more people die from suicide around the world than from all homicides and wars combined.

"There is an urgent need for co-ordinated and intensified global action to prevent this needless toll. For every suicide death there are scores of family and friends whose lives are devastated emotionally, socially and economically," she says.


Mangala Kulkarni
The children don't realise they have more avenues than academic successes
School principal Mangala Kulkarni

In Mumbai the authorities are so alarmed by the scale of the problem that they have began a campaign, Life is Beautiful, which aims to help students cope with academic pressure.

Psychologists visit government schools in Mumbai once a week to train teachers dealing with students' problems.

Sharadashram Vidyamandir school boasts illustrious alumni such as cricketers Sachin Tendulkar and Vinod Kambli. It has been holding parent-teacher assemblies where parents can receive tips on tackling the pressures children face.

And yet such sessions could not prevent 12-year-old Shushant Patil's death. He was found hanging in the school toilet on 5 January.

Mangala Kulkarni is the principal of the girls' section of the school. She says that ultimately families need to be more proactive when it comes to stopping students from feeling stressed.

"The children don't realise they have more avenues than academic successes. They need to be made to realise this by their families from childhood," she said.

Blockbuster

A helpline in Mumbai, called Aasra, has been operating for several years to tackle the problem.

The director of the helpline, Johnson Thomas, says the problems today's children face are manifold: "They have peer pressure, they have communication problems with their parents, broken relationships, academic pressure and fear of failure," he says.

Aasra class in Mumbai
Classes to help vulnerable teenagers are now being held

The home ministry estimates that for every teenage suicide in Mumbai there are 13 failed attempts.

One theory behind the recent rise is the influence of a recently released Bollywood blockbuster, Three Idiots, which has a scene where an engineering student is shown committing suicide after a mediocre exam result.

The film's impact has been debated and scrutinised in prime time television shows, with many directly blaming it for adding to the problem.

But Mumbai clinical psychologist Rhea Timbekar argues that it would be wrong to blame the film, which she says strives to explain that parents should not put too much pressure on their children.

Ms Timbekar says that she recently met a child who had not eaten for four days.

The child's parents said they were upset with him because he only got 89% in exams and stood third in the class, compared to coming first in previous years.

"Such parents need to be counselled," she asserts.

Ms Timbekar said that another explanation for the high teenage suicide rate was "copycat suicides" where children read about suicides in newspapers and decide to do the same thing themselves.

'Extreme steps'

Dilip Panicker, an eminent psychologist in Mumbai, says that pressure of exams is alone is too simplistic an explanation.

Pupil at Sharadashram Vidyamandir school
It's hoped that young people will have a brighter future

"At one level school pressures and expectations from parents are a valid reason," he says, "but that's always been there.

"In fact, parents used to beat up their kids in our time. What's changed is that today children are more aware, they have more exposure. They are more independent. So they blame themselves for failures and take extreme steps."

Psychologists also argue that the definition of a teenager needs to be revised in 2010.

"Today's 11-year-olds are the new teens. What we did at the ages of 14 and 15 children can do at 11 today," says Rhea Timbekar.

She demolishes the theory that children are more likely to be spontaneous in committing suicide, as opposed to adults who start with an idea, proceed with a plan and end with action.

"A child doesn't just wake up in the morning and says I will commit suicide today," she argues. "Something has gone amiss in their lives quite early on and suicides are a manifestation of that."

The breakdown of India's traditional family system is also being blamed for the problem. In a city like Mumbai - where it is common for both parents to work - children tend to become reclusive and watch too much television.

Dilip Panicker argues that there is a simple solution.

"If parents love their children unconditionally, with all their successes and failures, the problem would be greatly alleviated."