Safer Conversations Online: A free online course for safely discussing suicide, self-harm and eating disorders

The internet plays an important role in our lives. Many of us turn to the internet for information and support around challenging topics that impact our mental health, like suicide, self-harm, and eating disorders. When used safely, the internet can be a powerful tool for learning and recovery, but some online content relating to sensitive mental health topics can be harmful.

Safer Conversations Online is a free, self-directed e-learning course that helps you to keep yourself and other people safe when discussing suicide, self-harm or eating disorders in online spaces.

Through the course, you will learn how to safely engage with online content relating to sensitive mental health topics, how to respond to misinformation online, and what you can do if someone shares something concerning on social media. You’ll get practical advice for protecting yourself and others when sharing your lived experience online.

Find Yourself was developed with support from the HSE. It contains explainer videos, real young people sharing their opinions and experiences, and accurate information grounded in research. It’s divided into bite-sized parts, so you can move through it at your own pace.

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What is the spunout academy?

Safer Conversations Online is available for free through the spunout academy; a free online learning space for building knowledge and skills that support your mental health and emotional wellbeing.

The academy contains a collection of interactive learning courses designed to build knowledge, understanding, and skills that help you cope with a range of social, environmental and personal issues that can impact your mental health. These courses use a mix of compact explainers, engaging videos, and interactive activities to help you develop real-world skills you can apply in your everyday life.

Academy courses are designed in bite-sized building blocks so you can pick them up, put them down, and learn at your own pace. Each course has been developed with the help of experts, so you know what you’re learning is accurate and up-to-date. The academy also works with real young people to make sure every programme is interesting, easy to use and relevant to young people’s lives.