A postvention is an intervention conducted after a suicide, largely taking the form of support for the bereaved. Family and friends of the suicide victim may be at increased risk of suicide themselves. Postvention is a term that was first coined by Shneidman (1972), which he used to describe "appropriate and helpful acts that come after a dire event." In Schneidman's view, "the largest public health problem is neither the prevention of suicide nor the management of suicide attempts, but the alleviation of the effects of stress in the survivors whose lives are forever altered." Postvention is a process that has the objective of alleviating the effects of this stress and helping survivors to cope with the loss they have just experienced.
Youth suicide is when a young person, generally categorized as someone below the legal age of majority, deliberately ends their own life. Rates of youth suicide and attempted youth suicide in Western societies and other countries are high. Among youth, attempting suicide is more common among girls; however, boys are more likely to actually perform suicide. For example, in Australia suicide is second only to motor vehicle accidents as its leading cause of death for people aged 15 to 25.
A suicide attempt is an act in which an individual tries to kill themselves but survives. Mental health professionals discourage describing suicide attempts as "failed" or "unsuccessful", as doing so may imply that a suicide resulting in death is a successful or desirable outcome.
Suicide and the Internet have increasingly important relationships as Internet use becomes more ubiquitous.
The Pacific Identity and Wellbeing Scale (PIWBS) is a self-report inventory with a Likert scale format, designed to assess five distinct dimensions of identity and subjective well-being among Pacific populations in New Zealand:
- Group Membership Evaluation
- Pacific Connectedness and Belonging
- Religious Centrality and Embeddedness
- Perceived Familial Wellbeing
- Perceived Societal Wellbeing
Diego De Leo is an Italian professor, doctor and psychiatrist. Until August 2015, he was the director of the Australian Institute for Suicide Research and Prevention (AISRAP), World Health Organization Collaborating Centre on Research and Training in Suicide Prevention at Griffith University in Brisbane, Australia. He has been on the editorial board of Crisis: The Journal of Crisis Intervention and Suicide Prevention since 1990, was its Editor-in-Chief from 2008 to early 2018, and is now Editor Emeritus of the journal. He is frequently quoted in Australian news reports as an expert on suicide prevention.
Dame Alcyion Cynthia Kiro is a New Zealand public-health academic, administrator, and advocate, who has been serving as the 22nd governor-general of New Zealand since 21 October 2021. Kiro is the first Māori woman and the third person of Māori descent to hold the office.
Damon Ieremia Salesa is a New Zealand academic. Of Samoan descent, he is the first Pacific person to hold the position of vice-chancellor at a New Zealand university.
In colleges and universities in the United States, suicide is one of the most common causes of death among students. Each year, approximately 24,000 college students attempt suicide while 1,100 attempts end up being fatal, making suicide the second-leading cause of death among U.S. college students. Roughly 12% of college students report the occurrence of suicide ideation during their first four years in college, with 2.6% percent reporting persistent suicide ideation. 65% of college students reported that they knew someone who has either attempted or died by suicide, showing that the majority of students on college campuses are exposed to suicide or suicidal attempts.
Suicide awareness is a proactive effort to raise awareness around suicidal behaviors. It is focused on reducing social stigmas and ambiguity by bringing attention to suicide statistically and sociologically, and by encouraging positive dialogue and engagement to prevent suicide. Suicide awareness is linked to suicide prevention as both address suicide education and the dissemination of information to ultimately decrease the rate of suicide. Awareness is the first stage that can ease the need for prevention. Awareness signifies a fundamental consciousness of the threat, while prevention focuses on stopping the act. Suicide awareness is not a medical engagement but a combination of medical, social, emotional and financial counseling. Suicide awareness in adolescents focuses on the age group between 10–24 years, beginning with the onset of puberty.
Hinemoa Elder is a New Zealand youth forensic psychiatrist and former television presenter. She is a professor in indigenous research at Te Whare Wānanga o Awanuiārangi, a fellow of the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists, and sits on the Māori Advisory Committee of the Centre for Brain Research.
Jane 'Janie' Lois Sheridan is a New Zealand academic and as of 2018 is a full professor at the University of Auckland.
Budget 2019, dubbed the Wellbeing Budget, was the name given to the New Zealand budget for fiscal year 2019/20 presented to the New Zealand House of Representatives by Finance Minister Grant Robertson on 30 May 2019. This was the second budget presented by the Coalition Government. Its release was complicated by the accidental publication of budgetary documents on a test website two days prior to its official release on 30 May, attracting significant media and public attention.
Dawn Freshwater is a British academic, university professor, mental health researcher, and the current Vice-Chancellor of the University of Auckland.
Aiono Alec Joseph Ekeroma is a Samoan physician, academic, and civil servant. He was the first Pacific academic to hold a professorial role in a specialised area of medicine in New Zealand. He helped establish the National University of Samoa's medical school, and currently serves as the university's vice-chancellor.
Youth suicide in India is when young Indian people deliberately end their own life. People aged 15 to 24 years have the highest suicide rate in India, which is consistent with international trends in youth suicide. 35% of recorded suicides in India occur in this age group. Risk factors and methods of youth suicide differ from those in other age groups.
Josiah Tavita Tualamaliʻi is a Samoan New Zealand health and social justice advocate. He is the co-founder of the Pacific Youth Leadership and Transformation Council and was a member of the New Zealand government's inquiry into mental health and addiction.
Te Hiringa Mahara, formerly known as the Mental Health and Wellbeing Commission, is a New Zealand independent Crown entity that opened on 9 February 2021 which focuses on promoting mental health and wellbeing as well as providing leadership to the sector. It was established by the Sixth Labour Government with the passage of the Mental Health and Wellbeing Commission Act 2020.
Terryann Coralie Clark, known as TC, is a New Zealand Māori nursing academic, and as of 2023 is a full professor at the University of Auckland, specialising in Māori health, adolescent wellbeing and mental and sexual health.
Tasileta "Leta" Teevale was a Samoan New Zealand academic, and was the inaugural director of the Pacific Development Office at the University of Otago. In 2021, she was appointed a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit, for services to Pacific education and public health research.
