Identification of key messages for a national suicide prevention media campaign

Abstract

The suicide rate in Australia has increased over recent years, indicating a need for novel suicide prevention interventions. A large proportion of people at risk of suicide do not seek professional help, but rather express their suicidal thoughts to close friends and family members. However, expressions of suicidal thoughts to family and friends can be indirect and ambiguous, and consequently can be missed or misunderstand, leading to dismissive response and missed opportunities for suicide prevention. A suicide prevention media campaign aimed at family members and friends may be one useful population-level suicide prevention strategy to encourage greater recognition of suicide risk and appr..