The Department of Social Welfare of the Cabildo of Lanzarote has inaugurated this Thursday the I Conference on Suicide Prevention in the Assembly Hall of the island institution. This initiative is organized in collaboration with the Canary Islands School of Health and Social Services (ESSSCAN). The objective of this event is the prevention of this type of behavior, especially in the youth population, and the improvement in treatment.
The event was attended by the Minister of Health of the Government of the Canary Islands, Esther Monzón; the director of Essscan, José Montelongo and the Minister of Social Welfare, Marciano Acuña.
During his speech, the president of the Cabildo, Oswaldo Betancort, thanked the participation of all the people involved in the event and the choice of this island for its celebration. "We are always going to support all those initiatives of this type that help to clarify the reasons why these behaviors arise, their warning signs and their factors of influence," he stressed.
For her part, the Minister of Health of the Government of the Canary Islands, Esther Monzón, highlighted the interest of the government group in "trying to solve, alleviate and give all possible tools so that we can really tackle this problem immediately, which has been present in society for many years."
In this sense, the island councilor for Social Welfare, Marciano Acuña, stressed that his department will carry out different training actions for both professionals and educational centers, since he contemplates that "suicidal behavior is the tip of the iceberg of a persistent state of psychological maladjustment."
The director of ESSSCAN, José Montelongo, explained that "the objective of these conferences is to raise awareness about the problem of suicidal behavior, but also
to find ways to undertake, so that, when any of us detect this type of behavior around us, we know how to act more effectively."
Content of the conference
These conferences have been attended by speakers from the health field, such as Doctor of Medicine and Psychiatry Francisco Javier Acosta Artiles; the coordinator of the Child and Adolescent Mental Health unit of Fuerteventura, Manuel Ajoy-Chao; the clinical psychologist Irene Quesada Suárez, or the educational psychologist Calixto Herrera Rodríguez, among other professionals.
The attendees, among whom are associations and professionals in the field of Mental Health, Public Health, Primary Care and other specialties, had the opportunity to listen to various presentations such as 'Suicidal behavior and safe contexts' and 'Therapeutic intervention in borderline personality disorders and suicidal behavior'.
To complete this activity, there will also be a workshop aimed at students of Secondary Education, Baccalaureate and Vocational Training to teach students the basic notions for the detection and prevention of suicidal behaviors.