Updated at 11.30am

A SPECIAL TRAINING programme to help teachers spot the distress signals that could lead to student suicide will take place later this month.

The event is being hosted by the national suicide prevention and bereavement charity Console.

Supporting Our Students suicide prevention training will take place in the Hilton Hotel in Kilmainham, Dublin on Friday, 17 April.

Console CEO Paul Kelly said the course will “enable teachers, lecturers and others in education identify the warning signs of students at risk and give them the skills they need to respond effectively”.

A host of complex problems from exam stress, bullying and social media harassment to self-harming behaviours, can lead to suicidal ideation among students in our second level schools and third level colleges.

The half-day programme is based on the suicide prevention training known as QPR: question, persuade and refer.

“Just as people trained in CPR help save thousands of lives each year, people trained in QPR learn how to recognise the warning signs of a suicide crisis and how to question, persuade and refer someone to help,” Kelly said.

“This QPR training involves helping teachers to recognise and respond to suicide warning signs that may appear in a student’s behaviour or conversation, in their work, or in their texts and social media communications.

Troubled students may be experiencing a variety of personal, emotional and psychological problems, only one of which may be suicidal desire and intent.

“Those attending will gain an insight into suicidal behaviour and how to spot distress signals that a student may be in crisis. They will learn what to do if they are concerned and how to refer someone for help,” he added.

The course will run from 10am to 1pm on 17 April. The booking fee is €50. For more information, visit Console’s website or call 01 6274347.

Console offers counselling services and 24-hour helpline support to people in crisis and those bereaved by suicide (Freephone 1800 247 247).

The charity has full time centres in Dublin, Limerick, Cork, Wexford, Galway, Kerry, Kildare, Athlone and Mayo. It also offers liaison services in counties Donegal, Sligo, Leitrim, Tipperary and Clare.

• Console  1800 247 247 (suicide prevention, self-harm, bereavement)

• Aware 1890 303 302 (depression, anxiety)

• Pieta House 01 601 0000 or email mary@pieta.ie - (suicide, self-harm)

• Teen-Line Ireland 1800 833 634 (for ages 13 to 19)

• Childline 1800 66 66 66 (for under 18s)

First posted at 7.50am.

Read: How many sons and brothers must we lose to suicide before we act?

Opinion: ‘When I realised my thoughts were unhealthy, I retreated into myself even more’