on the evening of November 17th 1999 I
got a call on my landline at home
the Weisse I heard was hoarse a whisper
clearly whoever it was was talking
softly or struggling to speak Nelly had
said I need help I couldn’t hear the
person too well but the voice was
strangely familiar
but unrecognizable sure I can help I’m
sorry the line is bad who’s this I asked
don’t you recognize my voice said the
sound from the other side
sounding hurt i blurt it out
rhyme I’m sorry of course I recognize
your voice why wouldn’t I
I lied not worrying to admit that what I
heard that evening was not the voice of
our best that belonged to my best friend
from school
but something else ryan told me he was
in a bad state feeling low that he
needed to talk to somebody who was a
mental health professional
now Ryan and me had spoken a few days
earlier and he told me he was struggling
mentally and that he needed help I had
called nem hands and found out that the
outpatient department was open only on
Saturdays I told Ryan that I’ll pick him
up on Saturday morning and take him
there two days later in the middle of
the night at around 1 a.m. I received a
call all of 25 years old
Ryan was dead he had hung himself I
found out later that his voice was
hoarse because he tried calling me after
what was perhaps his first suicide
attempt the second time around he was
dead my best friend had called me for
help and I had failed him my name is
Nelson Vinod Moses I am the founder of
suicide prevention India Foundation and
not-for-profit that is helping create
awareness about the serious issue that
India’s
thing with suicide and fighting this
through suicide prevention training
which we hope will help save lives in
India one person dies by suicide every
four minutes studies suggests that for
every suicide death an estimated 25
people will try and kill themselves in
2015 according to the National Crime
Records Bureau 1.3 3 lakh people died by
suicide this translates to 3.3 3 lakh
individuals who attempted suicide most
of these deaths are young people working
age men housewives and daily wage
earners those numbers which you hear may
actually be higher the First World
Health Organization report globally on
suicide titled preventing suicide a
global imperative published in 2014
revealed that India has the most number
of suicides globally with 258 suicides
in 2012 India suicides rates was double
that of China which had 120,000 730
suicides why does this happen
India does not have a comprehensive
suicide prevention response system both
the garment and the mental health care
system are feeling those who need help
there are only 28 countries which have a
suicide prevention policy India is not
one of them a mental health care system
is woeful we face at 87 percentage
shortage in mental health professionals
we have only 3,800 psychiatrists and 898
clinical psychologists we have less than
50 crisis help lines and perhaps five
that function 24/7 365 days of the year
the US has over 150 suicide crisis
airplanes most of those who are
contemplating suicide may not get help
from a mental health professional or a
there is no one reason for suicides in
developed countries 90% of those who die
by suicide have an underlying mental
health issue like depression substance
abuse mood and personality disorders
post-traumatic stress disorder or
schizophrenia in India that number is
between 40 and 60% meaning the reasons
for nearly half the suicides are due to
psychosocial factors these can be
societal pressures family related
problems exam stress prolonged illness
relationship issues peer pressure or
poverty thanks to the media that focuses
on the sensational side of suicide most
of what we know about suicide is maybe
wrong let me bust some of those myths if
someone talks about suicide they not
serious and they won’t go through with
it that’s one method on a bust last year
a 24-year old student jumped off from
the 19th row of 5-star Hotel in Mumbai
and died here posting warning signs on
social media and even met his dad before
he committed the fatal act nobody picked
up the science talking about suicide or
asking someone who’s suicidal will
trigger suicide attempts that is wrong
as well suicide is a taboo subject and
often people who are feeling suicidal
won’t discuss it by asking directly you
give them permission to tell you how
they feel people who have felt suicidal
will often say it’s a huge relief to be
able to talk about what the experiencing
people who are suicidal want to die
majority of people who are suicidal do
not actually want to die in one of my
favorite TEDTalks sergeant Kevin Briggs
who patrols the San Francisco Golden
Gate Bridge which is a magnet for
suicides
spoke about those who jumped off the
bridge and survived very few of them do
mostly if you jump it’s fatal with those
who jumped and survived said most of
them said that the second they have left
they knew that they’d made a mistake
they wanted to live lastly you’re
mistaken if a person is serious about
killing themselves and there is nothing
you can do
fact is often somebody actively suicidal
the feeling is temporary
the psychic stress that the experience
will go away after a little while but
what they need is emotional support at
the right time the will to live even in
the darkest of times is powerful most of
those who are feeling suicidal will not
go on to make an attempt and even those
who do nine of to ten who make a suicide
attempt will go on to live full and
productive lives seven out of ten who
make an attempt will not make a second
attempt there are many famous people who
have survived a suicide attempt Martin
Luther King Princess Diana Walt Disney
to name a few President Abraham Lincoln
as a young man suffered repeated severe
depressions he was suicidal wrote poetry
about it
his friends were concerned and what did
they do
they took away his knives and his
pistols because they said Abe we don’t
trust you with that when Abraham Lincoln
became president he remember that so
when he was feeling depressed he just
made sure that he had no knives or
pistols around him the massive loss of
human life to suicide may appear as mere
numbers but chances are at some point in
your lives you will encounter someone
who’s suicidal whom you care about
perhaps you might have a person crisis
and might contemplate ending your own
life
in the majority of cases suicide is
preventable thousands of lives can be
saved and you don’t need a trained
mental health professional to be there
for someone who’s down and despondent
all of us potentially can help save a
life the World Health Organization
states that suicide prevention is
everyone’s business the community that
is each one of us can play a role it is
time to shatter the silence and the
stigma around suicide you can save the
life of a friend fellow student family
member or colleague by learning and
applying evidence-based suicide
prevention techniques you are the first
line of defense all of us can be
everyday heroes and when called to help
all we need is the ability to hear that
call and the courage to say yes there is
a suicide prevention program which has
been around for close to thirty years
that any one of us can take all you need
is 60 minutes of training and that 60
minutes could help save someone’s life
it is called the gatekeeper program a
gatekeeper is someone whose eyes and
ears are open to recognize the warning
signs that someone may be feeling
hopeless and helpless the gatekeeper
does not solve the problem the suicidal
person what they do instead is spoke to
the person show them they care let them
know that again get better with help and
persuade them to me to the mental health
professional and then take them there to
get help or at least get them to promise
that they will fix an appointment to get
help the World Health Organization
recommended intervention is proven to be
effective in Europe the USA
and in countries like Canada New Zealand
and Australia this is Ryan another
friend of ours and me this was taken in
the spur of moment in the pre selfie era
a few years before he died it’s one of
my favorite photos it was after a
particularly lovely afternoon filled
with laughter good consolation here we
were walking on Church Street when Ryan
suddenly decided that we should dash
into a photo studio and take this photo
maybe he knew something that I didn’t
I’m glad we took that picture Ryan was
one of the funniest people I knew
popular captain of the football team
part of the school parents team could
sing play the guitar and light up any
room he entered I miss him dearly if I’d
known gatekeeper training I might have
acted differently and on that fateful
evening on November 1999 I were
immediately taken Ryan to get
psychiatric care the millions of Ryan’s
I need your help and mine recently an
eight-year-old reached out for help
on the suicide prevention in the
foundation bait she said she could she
found life not worth living
she couldn’t focus on her studies felt
she was a burden on a parents was
depressed and her brain was not
functioning and she said she loved
studies but she said you know what I
can’t focus on studies please help me to
focus all I did was listen to her I told
her I cared that her life was worth
living and God got a promise that she’ll
do anything untoward that she she kept
at the end of the conversation this what
she told me she said thanks a lot sir
through your concern from a problem
I feel good a bit I would be always
grateful to you for this help you can
save one life from putting an end to it
I know sir that you really care about my
problem otherwise no one gave the
precious time to listen to any strangers
problem
hearing that I felt happy and vindicated
that work that I’m doing as a gazebo has
value there are less than a thousand
gate keepers in India we need hundreds
and thousands of them hundreds of
thousands of them in the US alone there
are millions if we need to be serious
about suicide reduction we need all of
you to become part of this mission and I
welcome you to it I’m a gatekeeper and I
urge all of you to become one too
thank you [Applause]
got a call on my landline at home
the Weisse I heard was hoarse a whisper
clearly whoever it was was talking
softly or struggling to speak Nelly had
said I need help I couldn’t hear the
person too well but the voice was
strangely familiar
but unrecognizable sure I can help I’m
sorry the line is bad who’s this I asked
don’t you recognize my voice said the
sound from the other side
sounding hurt i blurt it out
rhyme I’m sorry of course I recognize
your voice why wouldn’t I
I lied not worrying to admit that what I
heard that evening was not the voice of
our best that belonged to my best friend
from school
but something else ryan told me he was
in a bad state feeling low that he
needed to talk to somebody who was a
mental health professional
now Ryan and me had spoken a few days
earlier and he told me he was struggling
mentally and that he needed help I had
called nem hands and found out that the
outpatient department was open only on
Saturdays I told Ryan that I’ll pick him
up on Saturday morning and take him
there two days later in the middle of
the night at around 1 a.m. I received a
call all of 25 years old
Ryan was dead he had hung himself I
found out later that his voice was
hoarse because he tried calling me after
what was perhaps his first suicide
attempt the second time around he was
dead my best friend had called me for
help and I had failed him my name is
Nelson Vinod Moses I am the founder of
suicide prevention India Foundation and
not-for-profit that is helping create
awareness about the serious issue that
India’s
thing with suicide and fighting this
through suicide prevention training
which we hope will help save lives in
India one person dies by suicide every
four minutes studies suggests that for
every suicide death an estimated 25
people will try and kill themselves in
2015 according to the National Crime
Records Bureau 1.3 3 lakh people died by
suicide this translates to 3.3 3 lakh
individuals who attempted suicide most
of these deaths are young people working
age men housewives and daily wage
earners those numbers which you hear may
actually be higher the First World
Health Organization report globally on
suicide titled preventing suicide a
global imperative published in 2014
revealed that India has the most number
of suicides globally with 258 suicides
in 2012 India suicides rates was double
that of China which had 120,000 730
suicides why does this happen
India does not have a comprehensive
suicide prevention response system both
the garment and the mental health care
system are feeling those who need help
there are only 28 countries which have a
suicide prevention policy India is not
one of them a mental health care system
is woeful we face at 87 percentage
shortage in mental health professionals
we have only 3,800 psychiatrists and 898
clinical psychologists we have less than
50 crisis help lines and perhaps five
that function 24/7 365 days of the year
the US has over 150 suicide crisis
airplanes most of those who are
contemplating suicide may not get help
from a mental health professional or a
there is no one reason for suicides in
developed countries 90% of those who die
by suicide have an underlying mental
health issue like depression substance
abuse mood and personality disorders
post-traumatic stress disorder or
schizophrenia in India that number is
between 40 and 60% meaning the reasons
for nearly half the suicides are due to
psychosocial factors these can be
societal pressures family related
problems exam stress prolonged illness
relationship issues peer pressure or
poverty thanks to the media that focuses
on the sensational side of suicide most
of what we know about suicide is maybe
wrong let me bust some of those myths if
someone talks about suicide they not
serious and they won’t go through with
it that’s one method on a bust last year
a 24-year old student jumped off from
the 19th row of 5-star Hotel in Mumbai
and died here posting warning signs on
social media and even met his dad before
he committed the fatal act nobody picked
up the science talking about suicide or
asking someone who’s suicidal will
trigger suicide attempts that is wrong
as well suicide is a taboo subject and
often people who are feeling suicidal
won’t discuss it by asking directly you
give them permission to tell you how
they feel people who have felt suicidal
will often say it’s a huge relief to be
able to talk about what the experiencing
people who are suicidal want to die
majority of people who are suicidal do
not actually want to die in one of my
favorite TEDTalks sergeant Kevin Briggs
who patrols the San Francisco Golden
Gate Bridge which is a magnet for
suicides
spoke about those who jumped off the
bridge and survived very few of them do
mostly if you jump it’s fatal with those
who jumped and survived said most of
them said that the second they have left
they knew that they’d made a mistake
they wanted to live lastly you’re
mistaken if a person is serious about
killing themselves and there is nothing
you can do
fact is often somebody actively suicidal
the feeling is temporary
the psychic stress that the experience
will go away after a little while but
what they need is emotional support at
the right time the will to live even in
the darkest of times is powerful most of
those who are feeling suicidal will not
go on to make an attempt and even those
who do nine of to ten who make a suicide
attempt will go on to live full and
productive lives seven out of ten who
make an attempt will not make a second
attempt there are many famous people who
have survived a suicide attempt Martin
Luther King Princess Diana Walt Disney
to name a few President Abraham Lincoln
as a young man suffered repeated severe
depressions he was suicidal wrote poetry
about it
his friends were concerned and what did
they do
they took away his knives and his
pistols because they said Abe we don’t
trust you with that when Abraham Lincoln
became president he remember that so
when he was feeling depressed he just
made sure that he had no knives or
pistols around him the massive loss of
human life to suicide may appear as mere
numbers but chances are at some point in
your lives you will encounter someone
who’s suicidal whom you care about
perhaps you might have a person crisis
and might contemplate ending your own
life
in the majority of cases suicide is
preventable thousands of lives can be
saved and you don’t need a trained
mental health professional to be there
for someone who’s down and despondent
all of us potentially can help save a
life the World Health Organization
states that suicide prevention is
everyone’s business the community that
is each one of us can play a role it is
time to shatter the silence and the
stigma around suicide you can save the
life of a friend fellow student family
member or colleague by learning and
applying evidence-based suicide
prevention techniques you are the first
line of defense all of us can be
everyday heroes and when called to help
all we need is the ability to hear that
call and the courage to say yes there is
a suicide prevention program which has
been around for close to thirty years
that any one of us can take all you need
is 60 minutes of training and that 60
minutes could help save someone’s life
it is called the gatekeeper program a
gatekeeper is someone whose eyes and
ears are open to recognize the warning
signs that someone may be feeling
hopeless and helpless the gatekeeper
does not solve the problem the suicidal
person what they do instead is spoke to
the person show them they care let them
know that again get better with help and
persuade them to me to the mental health
professional and then take them there to
get help or at least get them to promise
that they will fix an appointment to get
help the World Health Organization
recommended intervention is proven to be
effective in Europe the USA
and in countries like Canada New Zealand
and Australia this is Ryan another
friend of ours and me this was taken in
the spur of moment in the pre selfie era
a few years before he died it’s one of
my favorite photos it was after a
particularly lovely afternoon filled
with laughter good consolation here we
were walking on Church Street when Ryan
suddenly decided that we should dash
into a photo studio and take this photo
maybe he knew something that I didn’t
I’m glad we took that picture Ryan was
one of the funniest people I knew
popular captain of the football team
part of the school parents team could
sing play the guitar and light up any
room he entered I miss him dearly if I’d
known gatekeeper training I might have
acted differently and on that fateful
evening on November 1999 I were
immediately taken Ryan to get
psychiatric care the millions of Ryan’s
I need your help and mine recently an
eight-year-old reached out for help
on the suicide prevention in the
foundation bait she said she could she
found life not worth living
she couldn’t focus on her studies felt
she was a burden on a parents was
depressed and her brain was not
functioning and she said she loved
studies but she said you know what I
can’t focus on studies please help me to
focus all I did was listen to her I told
her I cared that her life was worth
living and God got a promise that she’ll
do anything untoward that she she kept
at the end of the conversation this what
she told me she said thanks a lot sir
through your concern from a problem
I feel good a bit I would be always
grateful to you for this help you can
save one life from putting an end to it
I know sir that you really care about my
problem otherwise no one gave the
precious time to listen to any strangers
problem
hearing that I felt happy and vindicated
that work that I’m doing as a gazebo has
value there are less than a thousand
gate keepers in India we need hundreds
and thousands of them hundreds of
thousands of them in the US alone there
are millions if we need to be serious
about suicide reduction we need all of
you to become part of this mission and I
welcome you to it I’m a gatekeeper and I
urge all of you to become one too
thank you [Applause]
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