Jeremy Forbes: How to start a conversation about suicide
Jeremy Forbes: Cómo entablar una conversación sobre el suicidio
Through his charity HALT, Jeremy Forbes aims to break through the stigma attached to mental health, raise awareness through education and empower men to open up conversations around mental health and suicide prevention. Full bio
Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.
country town in central Victoria.
en el centro de Victoria.
for his workmanship with steel.
reconocido por su trabajo con el acero.
some steel edging for the garden.
por ribete de acero para el jardín.
which is a wonderful gift,
fue un gran regalo.
down the end of Pete's street
de la calle de Pete
was a tradie, or a tradesman.
o trabajador en casas.
in the Australian vernacular.
en el australiano vernáculo.
Era invierno.
and the community members,
y los miembros de la comunidad,
of another underlying tragic level.
reflejaban otro nivel trágico subyacente.
in that community hall
escuché a personas hablar
other people were going through.
otros estaban pasando.
was contained in two words
era resumida en dos palabras
where I was standing in a community hall
parado en la sala comunitaria
this Castlemaine community
comunidad de Castlemaine
I'd played footy there,
había jugado fútbol australiano ahí,
for what they'd given me.
por lo que me habían dado.
that hall as well,
drugs, finance, gambling,
drogas, dinero, apuestas,
acoso y hostigamiento.
that we have in the tradie community,
en la comunidad de técnicos
I lacked the experience.
Me faltaba experiencia.
but I wanted to do something.
compañeros técnicos y les dije:
to them or what to tell them.
No tenía ni idea.
de Catherina Pilgrim, la cofundadora,
from Catherine Pilgrim, my cofounder,
por la familia.
for the tradie community.
estamos agradecidos.
for the tradie community.
of being a tradie.
en ser un técnico.
we can get the tradies together
el lugar ideal para reunirlos
and talk about mental health
y hablar sobre salud mental
que era muy acertado.
I thought it was very clever.
de madera de la ferretería.
of a hardware store.
y yo soy uno.
and I'm a tradie myself,
y los rollos de tocino.
the tradies with egg and bacon rolls,
had no money to begin,
nuestra institución benéfica,
It starts in community.
Empieza en la comunidad.
we went around to the baker,
and there was some chocolate,
había chocolate,
this awareness-raising event.
evento de concientización.
Because we haven't got any money."
no tenemos nada de dinero".
we initiated the conversation with
con las que hablamos
depression or thoughts of suicide
depresión o tenía pensamientos suicidas
we've got some food.
teníamos comida.
and a lot of men in general,
where to go and get help.
at the HALT events,
en los eventos HALT:
about my mental health
a tratar mi salud mental
potentially saved my life.
say to me in the first year,
técnicos que me dijeron:
still have those bags in their Ute
tienen esas bolsas en sus camionetas
about a whole of community approach,
de un abordaje comunitario,
in Castlemaine at Tonks Brothers,
en Tonks Brothers, Castlemaine,
gone through mental health.
enfermedades mentales.
it's not only tradies
son afectados en su salud mental,
or anxiety or depression or suicide.
de depresión o suicidio.
in the farming industry,
en el sector agrícola,
de los técnicos
would not go home to their partners
los técnicos no irán a casa
hablamos sobre salud mental
we talked about mental health,
this, this and this now."
para las parejas
to these young, vulnerable men and women.
y mujeres jóvenes y vulnerables.
is really high for older men.
en hombres mayores.
depot workers and tradies.
para los obreros y los técnicos.
with very little funding,
con pocos fondos
HALT event at a hardware store,
de los eventos HALT en una ferretería,
about his suicide attempt.
me contaba sobre su intento de suicidio.
they've worked through it,
ya lo habían superado,
they could share their vulnerabilities.
que podían compartir sus debilidades.
talk about their suicide attempt,
sobre su intento de suicidio,
for them to talk,
de que hablaran,
to start talking.
to me and tell me their story,
y me contaran su historia,
to talk with other men."
con otros hombres".
that I've had depression, but I have,
tengo depresión, pero la tengo,
wants to come and speak to me,
quiere hablar conmigo,
and cathartic to do that.
from local and national support services.
servicios de apoyo locales y nacionales.
or someone at one of these events,
un técnico o alguien en estos eventos es:
of suicide prevention.
de la prevención al suicidio.
which most of our brekkies are,
las 9, donde aún estamos en receso,
It's a whole-of-community approach.
es un abordaje comunitario.
sporting clubs, community clubs.
deportivos y comunitarios.
y capacitar a las personas
just to give you an idea.
para que se hagan una idea.
por accidente automovilísticos.
al año en el mundo,
de toda la comunidad.
in opening up the conversations.
para entablar conversaciones.
to open up conversations.
tener esa apertura al conversar.
conversations, I tell the guys,
a entablar una conversación
to open up and have a conversation,
para tener esa apertura y conversar,
it's going for a walk,
to have the conversation.
para la conversación.
de tener esa conversación
to have that conversation
"¿Estás bien?" "Sí".
"¿Estás bien?" "No".
y poder entablar esa conversación.
out there is a good listener.
mi capacidad de escucha,
to listen and not judge.
to talk to you about mental illness
con Uds. sobre su enfermedad mental,
and thoughts of suicide,
o de sus pensamientos suicidas,
that we're going to hold that in tight
vamos a mantener el secreto
We need to listen.
associated with mental health.
asociado a la salud mental.
días para la salud mental.
to have mental health days.
it's mental health days.
son días de salud mental.
We can add to that change.
Podemos sumarnos a ese cambio.
preservar vidas.
el dolor del trabajo arduo.
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Jeremy Forbes - Life preserverThrough his charity HALT, Jeremy Forbes aims to break through the stigma attached to mental health, raise awareness through education and empower men to open up conversations around mental health and suicide prevention.
Why you should listen
Jeremy Forbes is the co-founder of HALT (Hope Assistance Local Tradies), which aims to build the bridge between the tradespeople or "tradie" community and both local and national support services. HALT facilitates this through "Save Your Bacon" meetings in hardware stores, where tradies feel socially included and comfortable.
Forbes and his co-founder Catherine Pilgrim founded HALT in 2013 after the suicide of a local tradesman in the Castlemaine, Australia area. HALT has now held over 200 events across Australia, reaching over 10,000 tradies, apprentices and community members. HALT has now expanded and is reaching out to sporting clubs, farming communities, building and construction apprentices, miners, corporate organizations and private businesses with a powerful message of suicide prevention.
Forbes travels across Australia and the world to tell his story and encourage and empower men to open up and have the tough conversations, as well as giving them the awareness of where to go to access help or help a mate if they need help. He was awarded a Westpac Social Change Fellowship through the Westpac Bicentennial foundation in 2016 and traveled to London and Oxford to talk about HALT and discover what the Uk were doing in the suicide prevention field. HALT was awarded a state award by Worksafe Victoria for its innovative approach to mental health and suicide prevention.
Jeremy Forbes | Speaker | TED.com