I  am currently raising major  funds for a relatively new Belfast charity www.pisproject.com.

Its main aim is to provide assistance to those who have lost a loved one to suicide.It is now training volunteers to deal with those who are suicidal.

It is also going to start a programme in schools, training  16-18 year olds to become mentors/ "listening ears" for kids who may be depressed and/or suicidal.

I would like to be pointed in the direction of Integral works and discussions re suicide and its prevention

Des

 

---

Dr Des Rice
Executive and Life Coach,
29 Ravenhill Park,
Belfast BT60DE
Tel 00442890598381
E- mail des@transformyourworld.co.uk
skype desrice130
Website www.transformyourworld.co.uk

I don't know of any specific Integral resources on suicide prevention, but obviously using the ideas in the Integral Life Practices kit, and the general ideas of Integral practice (exercising mind, body, and spirit in self, culture and nature) are going to be major elements in keeping people healthy and not falling into depression and suicidal thinking.  So that might be something worth checking out.  And you might want to contact the folks who do the trainings in Integral Psychology.  I couldn't find any email addresses for them, but I didn't look too deeply.  I'm sure someone in the main I-I offices could help direct you if you emailed or called them.

Also, you might enjoy the project that I've recently started, which is a melding of Integral theory, Spiral Dymamics theory, and Maslow's hierarchy of needs.  The goal is to create a guide to healthy development for teachers, health care professionals, policy creators, and individuals.  I've only just begun the project, but you can see the outline of the guide here: http://www.thewiseturtle.com/needs.html

Maslow's needs correlate very well with the Spiral Dynamics and Integral developmental stages, if you do just a little fiddling.  And once you set up that corellation, you've got a great prescription for understanding how and why we move up the levels, and how to help others move up those levels in a healthy and happy way.

I'm going to continue to work on fleshing my guide out, and doing more research on what elements make up healthy development, but the basics that I've already got up are a great start for anyone looking for ideas on how to build a successful program.

Peace, Love, and Bicycles,
Turtle

In AQAL Journal Vol. 1, No. 4: 91-115; D. Webb has an article entitled: Integral suicidology brining self and soul into suicidology.  This article would be a good place to start.  If you would like to know additional information about classic methods of clinical suicide risk assessment, shoot me an IM and I can send you a copy of my recent grad school paper on the topic that summarizes the literature. 

 

As far as AQAL goes, one could certainly look at the deterrents to suicide from an AQAL framework.  Do they have religious or cultural beliefs that preclude suicide?  Do they have organic processes that compromise their impulse control?  Do they live in an impoverished physical environment or have ready access to lethal means?  What state are they presently in (intoxicated, sober, psychotic, etc.)?

 

If the person has many deterrents to suicide, it would probably be worth reinforcing these variegated things to live for.  It the person has few deterrents and has made a resolute decision, it is very likely that an inpatient stay will be necessitated.

 

Mark

I am interested to know if any of you have thoughts on "physician aid in dying" aka "assisted suicide" for patients with terminal illness.  Do you consider this "suicide", and why or why not?