Jeremy Forbes: How to start a conversation about suicide
Jeremy Forbes: Hoe ga je een gesprek over zelfmoord aan?
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
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country town in central Victoria.
plattelandsdorpje in midden-Victoria.
for his workmanship with steel.
die bekend stond om zijn staalvakmanschap.
some steel edging for the garden.
omranding voor de tuin te halen.
which is a wonderful gift,
-- fantastisch om dat te kunnen --
down the end of Pete's street
aan het einde van Pete's straat
was a tradie, or a tradesman.
een 'tradie', of ambachtsman.
in the Australian vernacular.
iemand zelfmoord pleegt.
Het was winter.
in de volle gemeenschapshal.
and the community members,
en de leden van de gemeenschap,
of another underlying tragic level.
over een onderliggende tragedie.
in that community hall
hoorde ik mensen praten
die anderen op dat moment doormaakten.
other people were going through.
was contained in two words
lag in twee woorden
where I was standing in a community hall
staand in die gemeenschapshal,
this Castlemaine community
de Castlemaine-gemeenschap,
I'd played footy there,
ik heb er nog gevoetbald,
for what they'd given me.
voor wat zij mij gegeven had.
that hall as well,
drugs, finance, gambling,
drugs-, geld-, gokproblemen,
that we have in the tradie community,
die binnen die gemeenschap heerst,
I lacked the experience.
Ik had de ervaring niet.
but I wanted to do something.
maar ik moest wel íéts doen.
to them or what to tell them.
ze moest zeggen of vertellen.
mijn mede-oprichtster, mij op.
from Catherine Pilgrim, my cofounder,
for the tradie community.
voor de tradiegemeenschap.
for the tradie community.
voor de tradiegemeenschap.
Nee.
Nee.
of being a tradie.
we can get the tradies together
om tradies bij elkaar te krijgen,
and talk about mental health
over hun mentale toestand,
Heel slim van mezelf.
I thought it was very clever.
van een ijzerwinkel.
of a hardware store.
De plaats was geregeld.
and I'm a tradie myself,
en ik kan het weten:
the tradies with egg and bacon rolls,
broodjes ei met spek voorzien,
had no money to begin,
geen geld had om mee te starten,
It starts in community.
Het begint in de gemeenschap.
we went around to the baker,
en bij de bakker --
and there was some chocolate,
een voorlichtingsevenement.
this awareness-raising event.
Because we haven't got any money."
We hebben namelijk geen geld."
we initiated the conversation with
met wie we in gesprek gingen
depression or thoughts of suicide
depressie of zelfmoordgedachten,
we've got some food.
and a lot of men in general,
where to go and get help.
at the HALT events,
op HALT-evenementen,
about my mental health
om mijn geestelijke toestand te bespreken
dat ze mijn leven hebben gered.
potentially saved my life.
say to me in the first year,
zeiden best veel tradies mij:
still have those bags in their Ute
die tassen nog altijd in hun auto
about a whole of community approach,
over een volledige gemeenschapsaanpak,
in Castlemaine at Tonks Brothers,
in Castlemain bij Tonks Brothers,
gone through mental health.
it's not only tradies
zijn niet alleen tradies
or anxiety or depression or suicide.
depressies of zelfmoord.
in the farming industry,
op het voortgezet onderwijs.
voor de partners van de tradies,
would not go home to their partners
thuis niet tegen hun partner:
we talked about mental health,
het gehad over mentale gezondheid
this, this and this now."
to these young, vulnerable men and women.
deze jonge, kwetsbare mensen te bereiken.
is really high for older men.
is pas echt hoog onder oudere mannen.
depot workers and tradies.
en tradies hebben evenementen gehad.
with very little funding,
HALT event at a hardware store,
HALT-evenement in een ijzerhandel
about his suicide attempt.
over zijn zelfmoordpoging.
ze zijn eroverheen,
they've worked through it,
dat ze hun gevoeligheden kwijt konden.
they could share their vulnerabilities.
talk about their suicide attempt,
hun zelfmoordpoging te bespreken,
for them to talk,
verwacht wordt dat ze praten,
to start talking.
to me and tell me their story,
dat ze mij hun verhaal vertellen,
to talk with other men."
om met andere mannen te praten."
that I've had depression, but I have,
maar ik ben depressief geweest,
wants to come and speak to me,
het er met mij over wil hebben,
and cathartic to do that.
die de hele gemeenschap ondersteunt.
from local and national support services.
met informatie over hulpdiensten.
or someone at one of these events,
of evenementganger te zeggen:
de hele gemeenschap nodig
of suicide prevention.
which most of our brekkies are,
dan vinden onze ontbijtjes plaats --
It's a whole-of-community approach.
De gemeenschapsaanpak.
sporting clubs, community clubs.
just to give you an idea.
om je een idee te geven.
als verkeersslachtoffers.
800.000 zelfmoorden gepleegd:
in opening up the conversations.
to open up conversations.
conversations, I tell the guys,
to open up and have a conversation,
in de omgeving waar je dat gesprek begint,
it's going for a walk,
tijdens een wandeling,
to have the conversation.
to have that conversation
"Alles goed?" -Ja.
"Alles goed?" -Nee.
out there is a good listener.
to listen and not judge.
om te luisteren zonder te oordelen.
to talk to you about mental illness
Als iemand vertelt over mentale problemen
and thoughts of suicide,
en zelfmoordgedachten,
that we're going to hold that in tight
en dat we onze mond erover houden
We need to listen.
We moeten luisteren.
associated with mental health.
van geestelijke gezondheid verminderen.
to have mental health days.
'geestelijke gezondheidsdagen'.
it's mental health days.
maar geestelijke ziektedagen.
We can add to that change.
Wij kunnen daaraan bijdragen.
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