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n World Suicide Prevention Day on Monday, calls were mounting for everyone in Indonesia to help keep loved ones from taking their own lives — and to end the stigma attached to it.

Commemorated across the world on Sept. 10 every year, this year the event drew attention to the fact that suicide is preventable if people close to those at risk, be it friends, teachers, religious leaders or public officials, contribute to the effort.

Psychiatrist Nova Riyanti Yusuf said family members and friends should be on the frontline of suicide prevention in Indonesia, because they were the closest circles of people in mental distress, and as such they could detect early signs of depression — which could lead to suicidal thoughts.

“The problem is that we often fail to notice warning signs sent by friends or relatives in distress. We often don’t take it seriously when they say ‘I am tired of living’ or ‘I have no hope’,” said Nova, who is also the head of the Jakarta Psychiatrists Association (PDSJK).

“People should be empathetic, active listeners. We should not react judgmentally, but instead we must be able to put ourselves in their shoes, the psychiatrist said on Monday.”

According to World Health Organization (WHO) data, the suicide rate in Indonesia stood at 3.4 deaths per 100,000 people in 2016.

That number was far behind both the average rate of 13.2 in Southeast Asia and the global average of 10.6 deaths per 100,000 people.

However, the WHO stressed that suicide was a global phenomenon, with more than 79 percent of suicides occurred in low- and middle-income countries. Globally, suicide is the second most common cause of death among people in the age group of 15 to 29 years.

With regard to the staggering global rate of youth suicide, Nova said schools in Indonesia should play a role in developing an early detection system, for instance by providing continual counselling and student mental health assessment.

The government, she said, should set up a suicide hotline, particularly after the Health Ministry had ceased the operation of its mental health counseling hotline four years ago.

“[Any new hotline] service must provide mobile crisis teams, because there are many cases in which the families of the [suicidal] person want immediate home visits,” Nova said, adding that the operators should also have the skill to guide the callers on how to react in an emergency situation before help arrives.

The 021-500454 mental health counseling hotline has not been operational since late 2014 due to what the ministry described as “an ineffectiveness that stemmed from a gap between operational cost, the number of officials and the decreasing number of incoming calls”.

Health Minister Nila F. Moeloek, meanwhile, said people could utilize the health emergency hotline under 119 to get the help they needed for attempted suicides.

Suicide remains a taboo topic across the country, making it hard for people with suicidal thoughts to seek help, and consequently hampering efforts to prevent suicide.

“Even some psychologists still perceive [suicidal people] as weak, selfish people, while in fact [visiting psychologists] can help people maintain good mental health,” said Benny Prawira, the founder of Into the Light, an organization working for the prevention of suicide among the youth.

Benny suggested that religious groups start to play a role in providing positive psychological interventions to reduce suicide, which was considered a sin by the majority of religious communities.

“They could start by saying that seeking help is not a sign of weakness, nor a sin, and it is normal for people to seek counselling,” he said.

This year, Twitter released a special orange ribbon emoji, which automatically appears after the #WorldSuicidePreventionDay hashtag in 16 languages, including the Indonesian #HariPencegahanBunuhDiri.