Suicide Awareness

This is a very important post. Suicide is a huge public health crisis. I work with adults and adolescents who are suffering from depression, anxiety, schizophrenia, and substance abuse. Everyday I work hard to help people see hope when they don’t feel they have any. This week is World Suicide Prevention Day on September 10th.

Facts:

• In 2019 Suicide was the 10th leading cause of death but the second cause of death in American teenagers.
• In the United States, over 47,000 people committed suicide. In 2019, there were  16,000 homicides in the United States. We hear about murder on the news, but we don’t hear about suicide which occurs 3 times more frequently.
• In the world, nearly 1,000,000 (yes one million) people commit suicide each year.
• The top three methods of suicide are by firearm, suffocation, and poisoning.
• Suicide deaths occur more often than liver cirrhosis, septicemia (systemic infection), high blood pressure, Parkinson’s, and pneumonitis (choking on fluids; often found in the elderly and leads to pneumonia).
• Children who have a parent who have lost a parent to suicide are three times more likely to take their own life. “Those who lost parents to suicide were nearly twice as likely to be hospitalized for depression as those with living parents. And those who lost parents to accidents or illness had 30 and 40 percent higher risk, respectively, for hospitalization,” according to a study in The Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry.

Think about how many people are actually affected by suicide. If each person who committed suicide knew only 100 people, that would mean 4,700,000 people were affected by their death. Most people know hundreds of people. Maybe you are someone who has been affected by the unnecessary death of a loved one.  Suicide is preventable. We have to stop judging and listen to what hurting people have to say. Victims of suicide are someone’s parents, children, grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, or best friend.

We’re going to look at risk factors and protective factors. I hope you will glean something from this post.

Suicide Risk Factors

Western Michigan University has a really good website about risk factors for suicide (click here). I will summarize some of the main risks for suicide. There are modifiable and non-modifiable risk factors meaning there are things we can and cannot change. For example, you cannot change your sex, age, or race. Modifiable risk factors are those that can be changed; for example, if you are abusing alcohol, you can stop.

Non-modifiable Risk Factors

• Demographical Risks:
  • Men complete suicide more frequently than women; however, women attempt to commit suicide more frequently.
  • Caucasians and Native Americans commit suicide more frequently
  • Those over 65, particularly males, and younger people less than 25 are more likely to commit suicide.
  • People who are separated, divorced, or have early widowhood are more likely.
  • Transgender persons- especially if their family is not accepting of them
• Those who have a history of previous suicide attempt are at a much higher risk for completing suicide.
• If any family member has successfully committed suicide, a person if at much higher risk for suicide completion.
• You are at higher risk if either you or your family have a history of:
  • self-harming behaviors such as cutting, burning, pinching, punching or others
  • violence
  • abuse of substances (particularly alcohol)
  • trauma and abuse
  • psychiatric hospitalization
  • impulsivity and recklessness

Modifiable Risk Factors:

• Uncontrolled mental illness is also a factor. These can be depression, anxiety, schizophrenia, body dysmorphia, substance use disorders, bipolar disorders, and many others
• Low self-esteem or high self-hate
• A tolerant attitude toward suicide
• Victimization or feelings of victimization
• Current suicidal ideation and/or self-harm behaviors
• Withdrawal from social activities or normal interests
• Insomnia and/or nightmares
• Intense emotional states such as loneliness, desperation, self-hatred, feeling trapped
• Poor coping skills such as an inability to see the future or black and white thinking

Other Factors:

• Any real or anticipated event causing or threatening:
  • Feelings of shame, guilt, despair, humiliation, rejection, abandonment or unacceptable loss of face or status
  • Loss of freedom (legal problems), financial problems
  • Recent exposure to another person’s suicide, especially when it is a friend or family member but can also occur through exposure by the media
• Access to a firearm or other means
• Alcohol abuse
• Stress
• Grief and loss

Protective Factors:

Protective factors are things which are more likely to keep someone from committing suicide.  These factors include:

• Attitudes, values, and norms prohibiting suicide, e.g., strong beliefs about the meaning and value of life
• Social skills, e.g., decision-making, problem-solving, and anger management
• Good health and access to mental and physical health care
• Strong connections to friends and family as well as supportive significant others
• Cultural, religious or spiritual beliefs that discourage suicide
• A healthy fear of risky behaviors and pain
• Hope for the future—optimism
• Sobriety
• Medical compliance and a sense of the importance of health and wellness
• Impulse control
• Strong sense of self-worth or self-esteem
• Sense of personal control or determination
• Access to a variety of clinical interventions and support for seeking help
• Coping skills
• Resiliency
• Reasons for living
• Being married or a parent
• Strong relationships, particularly with family members
• Opportunities to participate in and contribute to school or community projects and activities
• A reasonably safe and stable environment
• Restricted access to lethal means
• Responsibilities and duties to others
• Pets

Cop Stops Man At Last Second

This is a story of a man who was going to attempt suicide and he found a reason to live. Please watch this You Tube. After you read it, answer the questions below on your own.

1. What risk factors did Kevin Berthia have or do you suspect he had?
2. What was the most important thing that Officer Briggs did to help Kevin?
3. What did Kevin Berthia mean by “two ears and one heart?”
4. How can you be more like Officer Briggs?

I hope that if anything, you have heard that suicide is preventable and you can be part of preventing it. We need to be aware of what others are feeling and thinking. Most of all we need to stop judging others and start being a listening ear for those who feel no hope.

If you or someone you love is suffering…

If you or someone you know is thinking about suicide, please call the National Suicide Hotline or 911.  They are both available 24 hours per day, 7 days per week. 

National Suicide Hotline: 1-800-273-8255  they also have a chat feature you can use.  Access it here.

Spanish language National Suicide Hotline:  1-888-628-9454

Veterans Crisis Line:  1-800-273-8255

You may also call your local county crisis line. Here are the Counties of Oregon Crisis Line Numbers.