The following is the message that is transmitted to callers ringing the free Australia-wide telephone service Suicide Prevention Medical Specialist Information Pty Ltd.

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1. Hello, my name is David Horgan. I am a doctor who has specialised as a psychiatrist and you have called my free medical information service on suicide prevention and depression.  This is a local call only, so please feel free to listen to the end of the tape.  I hope the following information will help you or someone close to you.  I must emphasise that I am providing medical information only, and I am not in any way offering individual diagnosis or treatment.  However, I hope the information on this message will increase your knowledge of a very common condition which affects 10% of Australian men and 20% of Australian women. Depression is NOT a personal weakness, and many famous and successful people have suffered from this very common condition, have thought about ending their lives, and have recovered fully.  In a few minutes, I will give you an address to receive a free information pack about these problems.
2. People who are very depressed or thinking of suicide are suffering intensely, even if they seem pretty normal to those around them.  I want to emphasise to you that I, and many other doctors, are very aware of how painful and frightening your feelings can be, and I want to emphasise especially that these symptoms CAN be totally wiped out.  Many people who have recovered from the same feelings of despair and suicide you may be experiencing describe having come out of a nightmare, and are hardly able to believe they once thought so negatively or wanted to die.
3. Medical research has repeatedly shown that nearly every person who commits suicide does so at a time when his or her ability to think calmly has been attacked by a brain chemistry change following stress. This is the illness doctors describe as clinical depression. Depression makes you feel exhausted, and unable to enjoy or be interested in anything the way you used to. You may have trouble keeping your mind on what you are reading, or lose track even just watching TV or making conversation. You may find you want to avoid contact with friends. Many people with depresion feel tearful and upset very easily. Depression is in fact very similar to developing diabetes, and just like diabetes, depression can be measured by a blood test in many people.. A combination of medication and changing some of your habits seems to be the most effective treatment for depression, just like diabetes.
4. If you are having thoughts of suicide at this time, it is very likely you are in fact suffering from depression, an illness which is trying to control you.  The important thing to realise is that the illness is telling you lies, at times very convincing lies, about the present and the future.  It is like having a computer affected by a computer virus, so that the information you get looks real, but is in fact totally wrong.  Don’t let the illness fool you or control your decisions and actions. If you tell your doctor about these thoughts, and how strong they are, he or she will be able to bring your thinking and feelings back to the way they were before you were so stressed, or refer you to a specialist in this area.  If your thoughts of suicide are overwhelming at the moment, please remember this CAN be fixed. Instead of doing something final, what have you got to lose by seeing if modern treatment can help you, so PLEASE go and see your doctor urgently.  If your doctor is not available at this time, you can go to the emergency department of your local hospital. Or you can ring 1223 and ask the operator for the telephone number of a crisis service you can ring, or the telephone number of your nearest public hospital; and talk to the nursing or medical staff there about how you need help at this time.  Despite what your illness is trying to tell you, the fact is there are a huge number of effective treatments which WILL cure the illness that makes you believe there is no hope and no escape.
5.  If you are not able to get medical help or crisis help at this time, here are some ideas which will help you get through until you can get professional help. Firstly, try not to be alone at this time if at all possible.  Tell a family member or friend how bad you feel, and that you are having suicidal thoughts, and ask them to stay with you until you see your doctor.  Secondly, get rid of the methods and stay away from the places you have considered for ending your life, so they do not continue to tempt you when your are feeling defenceless.  Thirdly, if it is safe for you to do so, and if it does not increase the temptation to harm yourself, consider getting out of the house, and going for a long walk or doing some activity outside the house, even going to a movie.  Finally, if you are feeling desperate to stop the emotional pain and despair you feel, take any calming medication you have available, or which has been prescribed by your doctor, in whatever dose is necessary but safe, so that you can go to sleep for a few hours rather than harming yourself.  A hot drink with the medication will help you to calm down and go to sleep more quickly. When you wake up, the emotional pain will be less. You do not have to die to get rid of the pain.
6.   The central issue is that there is a battle going on inside you, between the sick bit of you that can only see negatives and therefore wants to die, and the healthy bit of you that knows things were not always this bad, and that the future will indeed be better.  Instead of attempting suicide, which has been described as a permanent mistake when facing a temporary problem, I strongly encourage you to TELL YOURSELF WHAT YOU WOULD TELL A FRIEND WHO WAS THINKING YOUR THOUGHTS. HANG ON AND GIVE THE DOCTORS AND COUNSELLORS A CHANCE TO HELP YOU.  If you give them time they will be able to dramatically improve how you feel and help you to solve the problems you cannot manage yourself at present.
7.      If you would like a free information pack on depression and suicide prevention, giving you a printout of this message, a questionnaire to see if you have depression, and information about the antidepressants used in Australia, please send a stamped addressed envelope to Suicide Prevention, PO Box 222, North Melbourne 3051. If possible, please also send a donation to help with the costs of this service. The money is used exclusively to pay the telephone and directory costs, as both Commonwealth and State governments have refused requests for financial support.  The address again is PO Box 222, North Melbourne 3051. 
8.    It is very important also that you do not drink a lot of alcohol or take marijuana at this time, as they will further damage your ability to fight this illness
9. As I have mentioned a number of times so far on this tape, the most likely medical diagnosis if you are feeling suicidal is that you are actually suffering from depressive illness, which is in many ways a form of paralysis slowing up and trying to control your mind. This is a chemical change taking over your mind because the stresses affecting you have been too much to cope with. Depression tries to convince you there is no hope of things getting better and will make mountains out of molehills, so that every problem seems to be a major disaster.
10.  You will know you have depressive illness if you have a number of the following symptoms.  Trouble thinking clearly, problems keeping your mind focussed when you are reading or watching TV, memory problems, finding everything too much of an effort, and feeling too exhausted to do things.  Depressive illness will reduce your ability to do the things you normally have to do at work or at home, may make you less talkative and friendly, and will make you want to avoid contact with people either in person or even by telephone.   Many people find themselves feeling tearful in situations which normally would not make them cry. Most people with depression also feel uptight, nervous or worried, and are often very irritable, so they start having  problems with their relationships and their friends.  As the depression becomes worse, many people have trouble sleeping or eating, and lose their normal sexual interest.
11.  As the chemical changes in your brain become more dangerous, the illness begins to persuade you that there is no hope that things will get better, and no point in being alive.  However, it is very important to realise that this is really a chemical imbalance taking over your mind, telling you continuous negative lies.  It is a horrible form of suffering which can be fairly easily fixed in fact.
12. A little known fact is that the chemical changes of depressive illness can be measured in about fifty per cent of people, by a blood test. Your doctor can order this blood test, known as the Dexamethasone Suppression Test, if you seek treatment from him or her.  It is your chemistry that is having a breakdown not you.
13. With regard to treatment, the fastest and most effective treatment for depressive illness is the use of prescribed antidepressant medication.  Prescription antidepressants are not addictive, as they are different to tranquilisers such as Valium or Serepax. Antidepressants have been used worldwide by hundreds of millions of people over the past 50 years, without any problem with addiction in that time.  We still do not fully understand how antidepressants work, but we do know that ANY antidepressant will cure about 75% of depressive illness.  Yes, 3 out of 4 cases of depressive illness will be cured by any one antidepressant.   At present we cannot predict which medication will suit any individual patient, so the choice is based on the range of symptoms you are suffering, and the usual side-effects of various antidepressants.  The new antidepressants developed in the past 10 years have very few side-effects in most people.  It is too complicated to discuss medication and side-effects on this message, but details will be forwarded to you if you send a stamped addressed envelope to Suicide Prevention, PO Box 222, North Melbourne, and a  donation if you can afford it. 
14.  If you have depressive illness and your doctor or non-medical practitioner do not offer you the benefits of antidepressant medication in addition to whatever other treatment they provide you should discuss this issue with them.  Treating depression without medication is like treating diabetes without medication, especially when it is severe, so you need to be clear about why you are not being offered at least a trial of such medications.  Keep in mind that non medically qualified therapists are not allowed to prescribe medication for you, even though they often provide other very useful forms of therapy, so your local doctor can help in addition to your therapist.  However, research also repeatedly shows that the combination of antidepressants with certain types of therapy produces better treatment outcomes than either therapy or medication used alone.
15. Once you have recovered from depression, you must be aware it is like cancer of the mind, and you need to continue effective treatment in as high a dose as you can tolerate for as long as you can tolerate, to eradicate the seeds of a future attack.  However, there will remain a risk of relapse in the future, with return of suicidal ideas.  So do be aware of early warning signs, such as concentration or memory problems, or unusual tiredness and lack of motivation.  Early treatment will markedly lessen your suffering.
16. I hope this information service has helped you.   If you would like a written version of this tape, a questionnaire on depression and information on currently available antidepressants, please send a stamped addressed envelope to Suicide Prevention, PO Box 222, North Melbourne, Vic 3051. Or you may visit the Internet site www.suicideprevention.com.au.  However, for legal reasons, I must again emphasise this is a privately funded voluntary information service only, and is not offering individual diagnosis or treatment.  Accordingly, I will not be able to reply to individual letters.  Your family doctor can give you any further help you may need.    Thankyou for listening.
17. If you have any comments, or any suggestions to improve this sevice, or if you can afford a donation to the service, please write to PO Box 222, North Melbourne 3051, or email davidhorgan@email.com