**HEALTH WARNING – SUICIDE CONTENT**
I have great concerns about Philip Schofields safety from suicide. I write as a humanitarian and as a Suicide Intervention provider and trainer.
I have just watched the interview with Philip Schofield and even if you remove the most obvious warning sign 1) his reference to knowing how Caroline Flack felt, I saw (at least) four more clear suicide warning signs which were:
- His appearance and presentation, a broken man if ever I saw one
- He says he has no future now
- Loss talk
- and my own ‘gut’ feeling (which also counts)
🫶 That’s five clear and obvious reasons someone around him needs to be asking him directly if he is having suicidal thoughts and to support him and help him to put a safety plan together. I hope for his safety this is happening.
There are barriers which may get in the way of this happening…
🚫Firstly, those around him may MISS all those signs, or not connect them with suicide.
🚫Secondly, those around him may not miss the signs but they may go on to DISMISS them because of their own frame of reference – opinions, attitudes, judgements, beliefs about the circumstances that have brought him to feeling this way – or they will say to themselves he’s not the type to suicide (NOTE WELL: everyone is ‘the type’ when there’s too much pain to survive with).
🚫Or, thirdy, those around him will notice the signs and not dismiss them, but may fall into the last trap which is AVOIDing it. They are frightened and daren’t ask him in case the answer is yes, or because they are not confident what to do next if he does answer yes.
I mean look at him, the answer is very likely going to be yes! I’d operate on gut feeling alone, and that would be more than sufficient to be asking directly if he has thoughts of suicide. If the question doesn’t get asked and safety doesn’t get discussed, his life could be at risk, unless of course someone or something is able to reduce the pain he is experiencing, and he is then able to cope. We do not want the solution to his pain to be suicide.
I’m very much neutral with the circumstances here, as ultimately I don’t know what has happened, or not happened (I watched the film in full because I saw the suicide warning signs in a short clip, not for the story). I’m sure people don’t actually want the bloke to die, do they? I don’t. A doctor or a nurse doesn’t deny care because of someone’s history. I look at my own relationship history which I share in my book ‘The Umbrella Picker’ My first husband was 37 and I was 17 when we met. We married when I was 21 years old. I wasn’t groomed, I was complicit. Our age difference is now explainable by me today knowing I am Autistic (I did not learn this till age 45). Age is but a number for many Autistics. We tend to fixate far less about such things than neurotypicals do. But there’s many a different narrative or spin you could put to those circumstances if you wanted to – good or bad. There’s just two of us that know the truth.
If I’d seen the suicide warning signs I have seen in Philip Schofield in another stranger, who I could not directly contact, I’d be calling their local police area and asking authorities to do a welfare check at the very least. This is not possible in this situation, so I write this in the hope that someone close to him, who can, takes notice and ACTS…
- ASK him directly if he is having suicidal thoughts
- Help to keep him safe and help him to access a helper… a Suicide First Aider, a Life Assisting Care Giver, or a professional who can assist further… Papyrus, Samaritans, CALM, support on Hub of Hope, A&E, emergency services (if there is an immediate safety risk).
There are lots more steps you can learn if you wish to be part of the change that is ‘saving lives from suicide’ and my company can help with courses that serve that purpose.
I can’t speak for others, but Philip Schofield, I personally hope you stay safe.