In 2005, Commander Diógenes Munhoz, who is part of the São Paulo Fire Department, dealt with a relatively common event for his team.
A person had climbed a cell phone signal transmission tower with the intention of committing suicide.
It could have been the end of a life, but it wasn’t.
The episode ended up giving Munhoz an idea that would save many more lives from then on.
“I realized that even if the person gave up, the result was not necessarily positive,” he says.
“We, and I mean not only my team, but also the police officers and professionals who also handle these cases, were not instructed to care about that person in depth. These exits are treated simply as one more call.”
The manual’s procedure, he says, is that “you distract the person and grab them, and that’s the end of the incident for us. We don’t worry about what happens next,” Munhoz says.
Other options used by emergency teams are the use of powerful water hoses and tasers (which cause shocks), which are intended to keep the person attempting suicide out of danger.
But in the commander’s opinion, these methods only aggravated the situation without providing any support to the person.
At that transmission tower, the firefighter spent six hours with the person at risk.
For the first thirty minutes it was just the two of them.
“I met this man. I entered his world and his story, and I began to understand that he had a life full of suffering, anguish and also victories. After an hour up there, the last thing I wanted was for Alcides (not is his real name) died.
Munhoz contacted the CVV (Centro de Valoración de la Vida), a public tool in Brazil that provides emotional support and suicide prevention.
There he received his first lessons in compassionate listening, and began to read and write on the subject, and to participate in symposiums and conferences.
It took ten years of study until the commander created a technique to help people who try to kill themselves.
Based on research and experience, he created as a master’s project a course that is now applied in public emergency services in 20 Brazilian states and is open to professionals from other areas, such as doctors, psychologists and other professionals who deal with the topic directly or indirectly.
Munhoz directly prevented the suicide of 57 people, and estimates that this number has been significantly higher since there are other professionals using the same technique.
“I have seen the face of death 57 times and I guarantee you it is not beautiful. It is sad, gray, dull and we have to be there to receive and embrace that person. Help this person understand that there are protective factors that can help them to get on with his life, and that he can’t see the light at the end of the tunnel simply because he hasn’t been halfway through the tunnel.
“Although I developed the course, it was only possible because I had the help of many professionals.”
In the second half of this year, the technique will be exported outside of Brazil. A team from the Portuguese Fire Department will receive training.
What does the course offer
There are 40 hours of class in a week that cover seven topics, including phases of the deterrence approach, differences between types of attempts, suicide prevention and with a broader approach there is a module on mental health.
“Those who go through the training learn, among other things, to distinguish the types of people who try it, which are classified as aggressive, psychotic or depressive,” explains the commander.
“There are seven tools of language and body signals that the person who has to approach them can use. The key to the technique is not to speak to a depressive in the same way, with the same gestures, that I would if I approached a psychotic person,” says Munhoz.
Another change that occurred after the creation of the course is the type of medical attention that the suicidal person receives.
Before, the person was taken to the nearest emergency room. Most of the time she was not seen by a psychiatrist, but by a general practitioner.
Today, referral to the CAPS (Psychosocial Care Centers) is planned and the possibility of hospitalization is opened.
“When a person is just medicated and released, there’s a very good chance that they’ll try to kill themselves again.”
The commander is a doctoral student in mental health at the Center for Advanced Security Studies of the Military Police of the State of São Paulo, and his research is currently focused on the results that the technique has already achieved in this Brazilian state.
“If we save a life, an entire career would already be paid for. Ask that person’s mother,” he says.
On two occasions, Munhoz was contacted by people he saved.
“One of them was a boy who was a scientist. He wrote to me on social networks. And at a conference, when I finished my speech, a boy got up, made a speech and ended up saying that he was there only because I had taken him away from the place since he was trying to kill himself. It was pretty exciting.”
Depression is the leading cause of attempted suicide
According to the ABP (Brazilian Association of Psychiatry), about 97% of suicides are related to mental disorders, especially depression.
The disease is a public health problem in many countries.
In cases of treatment-resistant depression – when two previous treatments administered in adequate doses and time fail – it is estimated that the risk of death by suicide is multiplied by seven.
According to a recent study published in The Lancet, up to 80% of people affected by the disease in the world do not even have a diagnosis.
“Delay in treating depression can have devastating consequences, such as the chronicity of the disease, the worsening of symptoms, the decrease in the effectiveness of pharmacological treatments, the loss of productive years, economic impact and severe decrease in life. productivity, and all damage to their family life. Depression must be taken seriously,” says Cintia de Azevedo Marques Périco, professor of psychiatry at the ABC School of Medicine and member of the Psychiatric Emergency Committee of the ABP (Association Brazilian Psychiatry).
Many experts believe that there is still a lack of understanding about its seriousness and its impact on the life of the patient and those around him.
If you or someone close to you is depressed or in trouble, seek help. You can find support resources based on your region here:
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BBC-NEWS-SRC: https://www.bbc.com/mundo/noticias-62081654, IMPORTING DATE: 2022-07-07 20:10:05
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