Simple words that save lives
Rotary Melbourne recently welcomed Dr David Horgan, founder of the Australian Suicide Prevention Foundation, who presented his work on WhatDoISay.org, a free website helping ordinary people support someone at risk of suicide.
“Every family will be affected, directly or indirectly, by mental health problems,” Dr Horgan says. “You already know someone who needs this, you just don’t know who yet.”
Dr Horgan, formerly Clinical Associate Professor at the University of Melbourne and a “psychiatrist of last resort” for suicide and depression, shared some sobering mental health figures with attendees at the meeting.
The website he has created: WhatDoISay.org solves this problem. The website equips family, friends and colleagues with more than 500 medically approved phrases, the same ones used by mental health professionals, ready to send with a single tap to someone they are worried about.
"Each message helps wrap an emotional safety net around the person at risk," Dr Horgan says.
There is no cost, no waiting and no training needed, and because help arrives without being requested, there is no stigma.
The initiative won first prize in Suicide Prevention Australia’s 2024 competition and is now expanding internationally through Rotary networks, with releases underway in Sri Lanka and plans for India.
