Suicide prevention measures needed to deal with mental health crisis in teaching

Teaching is in the grip of a mental health emergency, with teachers turning to antidepressants, alcohol and even self-harm to cope with the pressures of their job.

Teachers at the Annual Conference of the NASUWT-The Teachers’ Union in Harrogate will today warn that the incidence of suicidal thoughts and attempts to end their own lives are growing among the profession and call for suicide prevention training to be introduced for all school leaders, along with mandatory, fully funded mental health training for all staff in school and colleges.

Furthermore, while suicides are one of the biggest causes of work-related deaths each year, they are not included in the Health and Safety Executive’s annual reporting or its inspection and protection regimes. The NASUWT believes this exemption must be removed to help address the factors behind work-related suicides.

The NASUWT’s wellbeing at work survey, which received nearly 12,000 responses from teachers, found that 87% say they have lost sleep due to work-related worries, 85% report feelings of anxiousness and 84% report low energy levels.