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Suicide
Apparently it's a good idea to spread this around :confused:
SUICIDE
Throughout the world, about 2000 people kill themselves each day. That's about 80 per hour, three quarters of a million a year. In the U.S., there are more than 80 deaths from suicide every day, 30,000 every year. This is the equivalent of a fully loaded jumbo jet crash every fifth day. From another perspective, you are more likely to kill yourself than be killed by someone else.
"...without knowledge of proper dosages and methods, suicide attempts are often bungled, leaving the victim worse off than before. Many intended suicides by gunshot leave the person alive but brain-damaged; drug overdoses that are not fatal may have the same effect. One eighty-three-year-old woman obtained an insufficient number of pills and lost consciousness but did not die; her daughter ended up smothering her with a plastic bag."
The number of suicide attempts is also subject to dispute. Based on a range of studies, there are probably between 10-20 attempts for every suicide, or roughly 300,000 to 600,000 attempts per year in the U.S. Yet more than half of suiciders kill themselves on their first try.
The overall 4:1 male-to-female suicide ratio in the U.S. is reversed for suicide attempts. Between 70% and 90% (studies differ) of suicide attempts are by medicine/drug overdoses, roughly 15% by wrist cuts.
If you play Russian roulette with a six-shooter, your odds of dying are one in six; if you climb Mt. Everest they're also about one in six. The former is a generally-condemned form of suicide; what, then, is the latter?
Teenagers attempt suicide roughly 10 times more frequently than adults, although their fatality rate of 11.1 per 100,000 people is about the same as adults'. This is the third leading cause of death among 15-19 year-olds. For this age group, there were 5,174 motor-vehicle deaths in 1994, compared to 1,948 suicides.
About four times more girls than boys make suicide attempts, but boys are much more likely to die: about 11% of (reported) males' attempts were fatal, compared to 0.1% of females', a ratio of more than 100:1. This also gives a ballpark average of about 50 attempts for every fatality in this age group.
Compared to those of older people, adolescents' suicide-attempt statistics show two significant differences. First the fatality rate for boys is a hundred times that of girls, a much greater gender difference than with any other age group. The immediate reason is clear enough: most teenage girls use relatively low-lethality methods like drugs and wrist cuts, while a substantial number of boys use guns and hanging. The reasons behind these choices are not known.
There is no suicidal type, but the presence of the following factors make it more likely that a teen will have suicidal feelings:
previous suicide attempt
low self-esteem
helplessness or hopelessness
in trouble
abused or neglected
perfectionistic
gay/lesbian
a traumatic event
recent loss
abuse of alcohol and other drugs
disabled
loner - socially isolated
recent suicide of family member or friend
A case will be made that people shouldn't commit suicide and that, therefore, a manual telling them how to go about it is pernicious. This is like one of the arguments against sex education: "If they know how, they'll do it." Well, they do it anyway. Thirty thousand suicide deaths a year in the U.S. should make this clear.
That is the reality. And the methods people use all too often leave them neither dead nor fully recovered, but maimed and permanently injured: paralyzed from jumps, brain-damaged from gunshots, comatose from drugs.
One young woman took a drug overdose, expecting that her housemates would return soon. They were delayed. I would like to believe that, had she known about less lethal methods, she would be alive today.
The best way to find out whether a person is contemplating suicide is simply to ask him or her directly. Are you thinking of killing yourself? This does not put ideas into their head, but it does free them to talk about what is really going on and to reach out for help.
If the answer is yes.....
Ask them:
What method have you thought of using to kill yourself?
When do you think you'll do this?
Do you have the means (guns, pills etc)?
The more lethal the means, the more available the means and the more definite the time frame, the greater the risk.
Do not ever agree to keep someone's suicidal intentions a secret. Find out who or what they fear and attempt to agree on who can be trusted with this information, but do not wait to notify the appropriate individuals. Better to anger someone by revealing their secret, than to see them dead because you didn't tell someone who could help them.
If, based on your evaluation of the risk (lethal means + availability of means + time frame) the person is in imminent danger of attempting suicide, do not leave them alone. Stay with them until help arrives.
People who talk about suicide do it. About 80% of the time, people who kill themselves have given out definite signals or talked about it to someone.
People who are suicidal don't want to die. Most suicidal people are ambivalent about dying, they just want to stop the pain.
HOW TO PREVENT SUICIDE OF A FRIEND
Suicide prevention is not a last minute activity. All textbooks on depression say it should be reached as soon as possible. Unfortunately, suicidal people are afraid that trying to get help may bring them more pain: being told they are stupid, foolish, sinful, or manipulative; rejection; punishment; suspension from school or job; written records of their condition; or involuntary commitment. You need to do everything you can to reduce pain, rather than increase or prolong it. Constructively involving yourself on the side of life as early as possible will reduce the risk of suicide.
Give the person every opportunity to unburden his troubles and ventilate his feelings. You don't need to say much and there are no magic words. If you are concerned, your voice and manner will show it. Give him relief from being alone with his pain; let him know you are glad he turned to you. Patience, sympathy, acceptance. Avoid arguments and advice giving.
People already have the idea; suicide is constantly in the news media. If you ask a despairing person this question you are doing a good thing for them: you are showing him that you care about him, that you take him seriously, and that you are willing to let him share his pain with you. You are giving him further opportunity to discharge pent up and painful feelings. If the person is having thoughts of suicide, find out how far along his ideation has progressed.
If the means are present, try to get rid of them. Detoxify the home.
Persistence and patience may be needed to seek, engage and continue with as many options as possible. In any referral situation, let the person know you care and want to maintain contact.
It is the part of the person that is afraid of more pain that says “Don't tell anyone.” It is the part that wants to stay alive that tells you about it. Respond to that part of the person and persistently seek out a mature and compassionate person with whom you can review the situation. (You can get outside help and still protect the person from pain causing breaches of privacy.) Do not try to go it alone. Get help for the person and for yourself. Distributing the anxieties and responsibilities of suicide prevention makes it easier and much more effective.
Most people have suicidal thoughts or feelings at some point in their lives; yet less than 2% of all deaths are suicides. Nearly all suicidal people suffer from conditions that will pass with time or with the assistance of a recovery program. There are hundreds of modest steps we can take to improve our response to the suicidal and to make it easier for them to seek help. Taking these modest steps can save many lives and reduce a great deal of human suffering.
Suicidal Behavior
-Previous suicide attempts, “mini-attempts”.
-Explicit statements of suicidal ideation or feelings.
-Development of suicidal plan, acquiring the means, “rehearsal” behavior, setting a time for the attempt.
-Self-inflicted injuries, such as cuts, burns, or head banging.
-Reckless behavior. (Besides suicide, other leading causes of death among young people in New York City are homicide, accidents, drug overdose, and AIDS.) Unexplained accidents among children and the elderly.
-Making out a will or giving away favorite possessions.
-Inappropriately saying goodbye.
-Verbal behavior that is ambiguous or indirect: “I'm going away on a real long trip.”, “You won't have to worry about me anymore.”, “I want to go to sleep and never wake up.”, “I'm so depressed, I just can't go on.”, “Does God punish suicides?”, “Voices are telling me to do bad things.”, requests for euthanasia information, inappropriate joking, stories or essays on morbid themes.
A WARNING ABOUT WARNING SIGNS
The majority of the population at any one time does not have many of the warning signs and has a lower suicide risk rate. But a lower rate in a larger population is still a lot of people - and many completed suicides had only a few of the conditions listed above. In a one person to another person situation, all indications of suicidality need to be taken seriously.
Think what you like. *Shrugs* It's not like I wrote it, but I am interested in your opinions.
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