Malta’s first app to manage and prevent suicidal and self-harm behaviour has just been launched, allowing users to press a crisis button on their devices to get help in time.

The Kriżi application, designed in-house by Crisis Resolution Malta (CRM), includes a confidential chat line and a ‘red button’ if all else fails for immediate help.

App users will find an expert on the other side of the line, available 24/7, said crisis psychiatrist Mark Xuereb, who founded CRM. If necessary, a vehicle and any other form of help would be dispatched to save lives.

Their location would be known through the app. He explained about the new free service that is based on CRM’s anecdotes and experiences over the last decade, during which its on-call professionals handled over 66,000 crisis calls.

CRM’s multidisciplinary team pooled their expertise to create a simple set of icons to “ease the distressed mind and gently guide the person through alternative non-destructive pathways on a user-friendly and intuitive interface,” Xuereb said.

The suicide prevention app aims to be “sensitive to the predicament of someone who is at the end of his tether, while offering hope in a non-judgemental and confidential manner”.

Designed to be clear, straightforward, clutter-free and easy on the eye and mind, Xuereb said that in moments of crisis, people are not into complications.

The aim is to offer logical, easy-to-follow steps to bring the person to safety, provide a rescue plan, or chat in a private space, instilling security.

Among its features are mood and suicidal-thought tracking through a series of graded questions that will allow the user to identify stressors; recommendations of activities to deter suicidal thoughts; and access to support networks; each having corresponding icons.

For every suicide, 20 people try to take their life because they may not have access to crisis care

The app’s rescue plan is a form of “kit” to prepare vulnerable people for what to do and think if they are in a moment of crisis.

It also invites people to turn their crisis into an opportunity, using their experience and suffering to help others by reaching out to those who do not have internet access.

“We are inviting these people to share the app, but also to spread the word to people who are not internet-literate. This will, in turn, empower them to be part of the team and deflect from their own worries.”

Apart from practical advice to the person in crisis, the app also supports their loved ones, who need guidance on how to manage these situations.

Statistics show that for every death, at least six surviving loved ones are psychological affected for life, with 65 per cent having a lifelong increased risk of suicide and 85 per cent stopping work or education.

Xuereb said the idea was to draft an annual suicide and self-harm report from the data retrieved – in full respect of confidentiality – so the app could be honed. Improvements would also be made through interaction with other local and foreign agencies.

Kriżi  ties in with the “much-needed” National Suicide Prevention Strategy, which is still in its draft form, Xuereb pointed out, and is yet another tool for those who often have no voice and who agonise and die in silence.

In Malta, about 20 to 40 people die by suicide annually and those who think about self-harm are even more in number. The World Health Organisation states that for every suicide, 20 people try to take their life because they may not have access to crisis care.

Based on international guidelines, the bilingual app was created by graphic designer Mario Borg and software engineer Benjamin Barthet and is available for download on Android and Apple devices, with a view to expand to other systems.

Eventually, it will become multilingual to cater for cultural and minority groups, the underlying rationale being that these are often isolated, which is itself a risk factor for suicide and self-harm.

People in crisis can also call the free 24/7 consultation line, 9933 9966, or send an e-mail to crisismalta@gmail.com

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