She experienced it at school. Someone close to her had suicidal thoughts. She was suffering and did not want to suffer any more. But Paula Nadal did not detect it, she did not see the signs (and if she had seen them she surely would not have known what to say, what to do, what not to say and what not to do). Today, years later, Paula explains that although she still has a lot to learn, she feels much more prepared to deal with a situation like this.
And Paula Nadal, a Nursing student at the University, this year has completed the training of the GUIDES program: University Managers in IIntervention and Assistance in the Prevention of Suicide.
The sessions received and the exercises done, including a simulation with an actresshave helped him identify possible signs of riskThey have provided her with verified information about suicide (free from false beliefs) and have also armed her with guidelines on how to act when faced with warning signs.
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Paula has become a campus guardian against suicide, like 60 other UIB students and fifteen professors who have participated in the pilot program developed this year, which is based on the idea that the entire university community (not just mental health experts) can contribute to the prevention of suicidal behavior.
In a context of mental health crisis and with suicide being the leading cause of unnatural death in our country (also among young people under 29 years of age, a group that includes the majority of university students), Spanish universities are slowly beginning to establish strategies to protect their studentswhich is not without risk.
Patricia García, psychologist and professor at the Faculty of Nursing and one of the promoters of the program UIB GUIDES, He points out that there is still a lack of precise and unified data on suicidal ideation among the university population, as highlighted at the recent meeting of psychological services at Spanish universities, attended by the University psychologist, Joan Miquel Gelabert.
According to a study published in 2023 by the University of Malaga (another of the pioneering academic institutions in implementing suicide prevention plans) three out of ten university students have had death wishes in the last six months; 15% have expressed suicidal ideation and 0.5% have attempted to take their own life.
The Autonomous University of Barcelona released research last April that warned: the risk of suicide among Catalan university students has doubled in three years and a third of students at Catalan universities have considered it in the last twelve months. Soon the publication of another work promoted by the Complutense is expected.
While the scientific literature grows, a number from the National Statistics Institute shocks: eIn 2022, 4,227 people died by suicide in Spain and 341 were under 29 years.
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The first step of the program, promoted by García and Elena Gervilla, a professor at the Faculty of Psychology, was to identify what the university community knew about the topic (and what they did not). They did a survey of 703 people. The majority, 80%, recognized the seriousness of the problem, but only 15% said they had received training.
García draws attention to a fact that is surprising at first: suicide, which involves a major public health problemis not part of the curriculum content in any university study.
At the request of the faculties, they have started this year to give training on suicide prevention to students of various degrees, such as Nursing, Psychology, Social Work, Education, Law or Hospitality. The teachers want it to be included in the teaching guides as part of the syllabus.
Many of the participating students, like Paula Nadal, come from health and social studies, but not only, reveals García, who specifically mentions the interest of several Tourism teachers and students.
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The training program in prevention of suicidal behavior and emotional management Prepared by García and Gervilla together with Margalida Miró, Antònia Pades, Jordi Llabrés and Antònia Mesquida, it initially provides for literacy training, initial management and help resources. Epidemiology is addressed, myths are dismantled, and risk and protective factors are described, as well as warning signs (such as possible ‘farewell phrases’).
Afterwards, the GUIDES receive more sessions so that they see themselves capable of helping and accompanying people in situations of emotional crisis and so that they know how to modify dysfunctional patterns of thought and behavior. The Emotional management is a whole block and also includes information focused on grief and survivors.
Content written by national experts is offered and the promoters collaborate with entities such as the Papageno association, the Autonomous Observatory of Suicide or the AFASIB association, of family and friends survivors of suicide in the Balearic Islands.
“It is essential to break myths and we insist, for example, on the fact that suicide is multi-causal: we must be alert about falling into simplism, there may be a triggering factor, but there are several causes,” emphasizes García, who highlights something that society He is already internalizing: “The person with suicidal ideation does not want to stop living, he wants to stop suffering.”
The fact that it is “an equal”, another student, who approaches the student who is suffering can make things easier. However, Gervilla and García point out something important to future GUIDES: “They are not responsiblewe teach them that and to show interest, to accompany, to listen without judging [un punto clave: validar lo que siente el otro sin hacer juicios] and not trying to solve the problem or relativize it: it is accompanying and listening to the relief.
This part sounds obvious, but in an individualized, stressed and very competitive society, sometimes we forget the importance of dedicating time and attention to someone. “We have many people next to us with suicidal ideas, and we neither realize it nor know what to do,” says Paula Nadal, “ and yes, there are many people who do not think beyond themselves, when a simple gesture can help a lot».
The young woman, who in addition to having completed the training is linked to the project as a collaborating student, concludes: “What I experienced at the institute I would have faced differently now,The basic thing is knowing how to listen and offer the resources that exist: “I cannot offer help to solve the issue, but I can offer you resources.”
The survey with which the project started showed a lack of knowledge about how to act and which doors to knock on. 68% identified the helplines available in a time of crisis (112 and 061), but Only 20% knew about UIB’s care mechanisms and only half knew that suicidal ideation is a reason to go to the emergency room. 3% did know the resources because they had been close to a case of suicide. One of the GUIDE students who have been trained this year has lost three people because of this.
Once the pilot experience has concluded (promoted thanks to a DE award for Cultural Services from the UIB), it is now time to evaluate the program and look for how to maintain it. The project is one of the strategic lines of the UIB’s 1st Suicide Prevention Plan, which stands out as a pioneer university in Spain in addressing this issue. Furthermore, as a result of GUÍAS, García values, many students are presenting master’s final projects related to the topic.
Investigate, talk and train to know how to act: campuses assume that in the face of suicide there is no room for silence and one cannot look the other way.