Overview of Suicide

What is suicide?

Definition:

1. A permanent solution to a temporary problem (Suicide Lector)
2. The act of intentionally taking one's own life (Vorvick)
3. A desperate attempt to get away from huge amounts of grief, suffering, pain, and loss (Smith)

Statistics:

• In the whole world, over 1 million suicides are completed (Suicide Lector).
• There are more than 29,000 people in America that end up taking their own lives each year (Goode).
• There are 80 suicides that occur everyday in the United States.
• The number of suicides to homicides is two to one (Suicide Lector).
• One in ten high school students try to commit suicide.
• The elderly have the highest rate of completed suicides (Roes).

Sometimes people feel as if they are drowning in grief, pain, and difficulty. The only way they see to escape from it is to kill themselves. They can no longer see clearly all the other options that are available to help them cope with their situations (Muench-Miller). Many people are affected by these deaths and most of them can be prevented if the warning signs get recognized and treated properly.

Methods

How do they do it?
 

There are many ways to end a life.

It could be a gunshot,

 

Or maybe a rope around your neck.

 

Possibly some pills,
 

Or even a jump.

There are many ways that people take their own lives. It could be shooting themselves in the head or cutting themselves with a knife and letting the blood flow. They could jump in front of moving traffic and hope to get hit or jump off of a bridge into rushing water. Other options include tying a rope around their neck and dangling above the floor or swimming out as far as possible into deep water and then giving up (Suicide Lector). People choose all these different methods for many different reasons, the main one being their location. If they are in a big city without large bodies of water around they obviously are not going to choose drowning.

The rate of completing a suicide is quite small compared to that of how many get attempted. Men who commit suicide are more likely to actually die from it because they tend to choose more violent methods such as gunshots (Vorvick).

Women, more often, choose methods of suicide more like suffocation or overdosing because they are less painful and less violent, still some may choose different methods (Vorvick).

Reasons Behind the Act

Why do people want to take their own life?

 

There are many answers to this question and not all of them are simple. Many times people experience normal feelings of sadness, anxiety, and despair. Everyone does at some point. However, people with a mental illness can get overwhelmed with these normal reactions to events that occur throughout life. It can become so extreme that it leads to hopelessness and suicidal feelings ("NAMI").

 

People also may have many underlining problems in their lives that can trigger the thoughts and ideas of taking their own life. These problems and feelings may include:

• Being ashamed or guilty
• Feeling like a burden
• Feeling like a victim
• Rejection or loneliness
• Experiencing aging
• Recent death of a loved one
• Dependence on drugs or alcohol
• Emotional trauma
• Serious physical illness
• Unemployment
• Money problems (Vorvick).

Other people take their own life because they want to keep up their reputation. Sometimes they kill themselves because they don't want to be humiliated or degraded. Other times they want to make themselves a martyr for a cause. They want to draw attention to themselves and create a memory of their life that others will look up to someday (Giesman).

Many people don't actually want to kill themselves but they think it is the only way out. They don't see any other way of getting out of their bad situations ("NAMI").
 

Impact on Family and Friends

How does a suicide effect the lives of others?

There are many people, in every country, who have to deal with the loss of someone they know to suicide. They get the title of suicide survivors. These survivors have a hard time dealing with their emotions and never fully understand why the person decided to take their own life. "Some people pass through a normal grief process and heal quickly, but studies suggest that suicide survivors often experience more guilt, rejection, shame and isolation than those who grieve other deaths" (Goode).

In order to help suicide survivors understand the suicide and the feelings that come along with it, talk with them and make sure they know that they are not alone in these emotions (Heru). Don't let them keep their feelings bottled up inside, but rather discuss them and help them cope.

Some major feelings that a suicide survivor will almost always encounter are anger, shock, guilt and despair. They might be angry because they never caught the signs of the person being suicidal or they might even be angry at the person for leaving them all alone. Shock causes the survivors to think that it didn't happen and that it was just a dream and the person is still alive. There is no way that they could have taken their own life and they do not believe in their death. Survivors feel guilty because they didn't do anything to stop the suicide. They feel like they are to blame for the person's death. Finally, a survivor might feel despair and even consider suicide themselves because they can't deal with the pain and sadness that appeared by their loved ones unexpected death (Mayo Clinic).

Changes that were not emotional also can occur. One can have horrible dreams and nightmares about the suicide and some can have flashbacks to finding the body. These can also happen during the day. A survivor might be at work and suddenly flashback to the loved one's life because they hear a song that is playing on the radio or see a picture of them. It can cause them to be wiped out for the rest of the day and not able to function as they had before the death (Van Dongen). It makes adjusting back to normal life exhausting and difficult as the symptoms of sadness and misunderstanding keep occurring.

Entire families can be drawn closer together or crumble when an event like this occurs. Some survivors rely on their family for support and grieve together to help each other cope with the situation. Others start pushing the blame they feel off of themselves and onto their family members and friends who are also suffering the same feelings of blame and guilt (Van Dongen). It can become so bad that families no longer get along which just seems to cause more sadness and anger in the survivors' lives.

The people that take it the hardest are normally the people that didn't catch on to any of the warning signs. They are in total shock that something like this happened to someone that they knew (Van Dongen). They are unable to grasp the idea that it really occurred which in turn makes it harder to deal with the emotions that are brought with the death.

Warning Signs

What are some signs that someone thinking about suicide might show?

A suicidal person may show many warning signs or possible none at all. Many of these signs are hard to detect.

Some of the signs that are harder to detect include:

• Isolation
• Feeling confused or out of place
• Giving away possessions (Giesman)
• Feeling worthless and depressed (Muench-Miller)

Other symptoms may consist of:

• Extreme personality changes
• Fatigue
• No longer taking care of their appearance
• Trouble concentrating
• Loss of appetite ("NAMI")
• Previous suicide attempts
• Family history of suicide
• Psychiatric or anxiety disorders (Suicide Lector)
• Needing to get their "affairs" in order
• Heavy drinking
• Using drugs
• Talking about death (Vorvick)

One way to remember some of these many warning signs is the acronym Is Path Warm. I stands for Ideation or the idea of committing suicide. S stands for substance abuse. P is for purposelessness so the person might feel as if there is no reason to keep living. A signifies anxiety and T represents feeling trapped as if there is no other way out. H is for hopelessness. W stands for withdrawal from the world and their normal lives. Anger is shown by the A and recklessness by the R. Someone who is suicidal may not always be thinking straight and may make poor decisions. Finally, M signifies mood changes which can often occur in a suicidal person (Suicide Lector).

All of these symptoms and signs may indicate that a person is thinking about suicide, but not necessarily all of them will appear (Vorvick). Sometimes someone will show no signs at all that are detectable by a person without enormous amounts of training. If you think someone is suicidal, be open with them and ask about it. This will not make the person want to kill themselves even more, but rather will form a line of safety and an opportunity to find alternative solutions to the problems they are dealing with (Muench-Miller).

Prevention

How do you take care of and help a person who is thinking about committing suicide?

 

Most people who think about or actually commit suicide think it is the only way out of their situations. "Suicide is a desperate attempt to escape suffering that has become unbearable. Blinded by feelings of self-loathing, hopelessness, and isolation, a suicidal person can't see any way of finding relief except through death" (Smith). They don't understand that there are many people around them who are willing to listen to them and help to give them hope. Their judgment gets clouded and they no longer are looking at all of their possibilities. Suicidal people don't believe that there is any type of help that could actually work for them, even though it might have worked for someone else. They believe that nothing will be able to help them with their suicidal thoughts (Muench-Miller). In reality, however, these people are wrong. There are many ways for these people to get help and many of them are successful.

The first step someone can take to giving help to a suicidal person is to confront them about it. If you don't know the thoughts and problems of someone thinking about killing themselves you have no idea what you can do to help them with it. Just be direct and ask them because then you have opened up a line of communication between yourself and the person suffering from suicidal thoughts (Muench-Miller).

If the person has a plan about how they are going to commit suicide don't leave them alone and make sure all possible ways of killing themselves are not available. Make sure all firearms, medications and alcohol are locked up and that there is no way around the person that they could use to actually commit suicide (Vorvick). Even after all precautions have been taken, contact the person's counselor if they have one or call 911. Never leave the person alone but rather stay and talk with them, actually listen to what they are saying (Giesman).

Once the immediate danger is dealt with make sure that you keep in contact with the person. They may say they are doing much better, but always make sure that they are telling the truth. A person with previous suicidal thoughts may not want to admit that they are still struggling with these thoughts (Roes). Make sure that the line of communication is still open and that the person knows that they are cared for and loved. When actually listening to the person when they are talking, make sure to take them seriously. If they say they will hurt themselves, there is a definite possibility that they might. They may not be joking about it.

While you might still be talking to the person, make sure that they are also getting professional help. This help may come from speaking to a counselor regularly who can help the person figure out a plan to solve their problems that doesn't include killing themselves. They could also go to a group meeting and then would be able to see that they are not alone. Many others around them are dealing with the same things they are. The person could call a suicide hotline to get immediate counseling and be able to talk with someone to help them get out of immediate danger. Finally, if they need it badly, a person could go to a hospital in order to be cared for and be able to be safe from themselves (Muench-Miller).
 

Society's View

How do people view suicide?



Suicide is a permanent decision
that makes it impossible
to make any other decisions

Way back in Ancient Greece and Rome, along with other eastern cultures, suicide wasn't prohibited but sometimes was considered nobel (Suicide Lector). A person would commit suicide to become a martyr for a cause that they were fighting for. Some philosophers from these early times were for suicide. The ultimate freedom to take your own life needed to belong to you if you chose it or else you were not "free" from the ruling and power of others. Against suicide were still other philosophers. They believed that people should not take their own life but should be prevented from trying to do such. In taking their own life a person would not be able to make any other choices which should not be the case (Suicide Lector).
 

There are also many religious views. Almost all believers and their religions agree that suicide is overall something that should not take place. The only real exceptions to this is the religions of Islam and Confucianism. The Islam believers who are suicide bombers are not considered as people committing suicide but rather as martyrs so it is acceptable. The religion of Confucianism has the belief that it is okay to commit suicide as long as it is helping and is good for the society as a whole (Suicide Lector). An example of this can be found in Japan. Say there you have a huge debt that you will never be able to pay back, then if you were to die, no one would have to deal with that burden and the debt would not have to be repaid, in return helping the family (Beam).
 

The main things that come to mind when society thinks of suicide are teens and bullying. Many believe that teens are the main group of people that take their own lives, but the old, elderly, and terminally ill patients also have a very high trend of killing themselves. Also, bullying is something that can cause a person to commit suicide but is by no means the only one. Someone may be in financial trouble or be in a huge breakup with someone.

Overall, in society today, there are mainly two ways that people see suicide. Some believe that it is wrong because you have to value your life. It is an important gift given to you and you have to treat it with respect. "According to this ‘sanctity of life’ view, human life is inherently valuable and precious, demanding respect from others and reverence for oneself. Hence, suicide is wrong because it violates our moral duty to honor the inherent value of human life, regardless of the value of that life to others or to the person whose life it is" (Cholbi). Still many others argue that suicide or the act of killing yourself is allowable. They believe that you own your own body, no one else does, so you should be able to get rid of it whenever you see fit. You have a right to end your life (Cholbi).

Sources

Works Cited

•   Beam, Christopher. "It's the Economy, Stupid. And the Health-care System. And the Religious Beliefs. And the ..." Slate Magazine. The Slate Group, 31 May 2007. Web. 24 Apr. 2013.

 

•   Cholbi, Michael. “Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy.” Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. N.p., 2012. Web. 27 Mar. 2013.

 

•   Giesman, Laura. "Help Prevent Suicide | World of Psychology." Psych Central.com.       PsychCentral, 1 Aug. 2010. Web. 15 Apr. 2013.

 

•   Goode, Erica. "Scientists Begin Studying Aftereffects Of Suicide on Families and Survivors."   The Tech. Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 28 Oct. 2003. Web. 26 Mar. 2013.

 

•   Heru, Alison M. “Helping families of patients with depression.” Internal Medicine News 15 Feb. 2012: 40. Health Reference Center Academic. Web. 11 Apr. 2013.

 

•   Muench-Miller, Sarah, Psy.D. "Suicide Interview with Expert." Personal interview. 18 Apr. 2013.

 

•   “NAMI | Home.” NAMI | Home. National Allience on Mental Illness, n.d. Web. 06 Apr. 2013.

 

•   Roes, Nicholas A. “Understand the signs of suicidality.” Addiction Professional Mar.-Apr. 2011: 34+. Health Reference Center Academic. Web. 11 Apr. 2013.

 

•   Smith, Melinda, Jeanne Segal, and Lawrence Robinson. “Suicide Prevention.” How to Help Someone Who is Suicidal. N.p., Nov. 2012. Web. 27 Mar. 2013.

 

•   Staff, Mayo Clinic. “Suicide Grief: Healing after a Loved One’s Suicide.” Mayo Clinic. Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research, 12 May 2012. Web. 27 Mar. 2013.

 

•   Suicide Lecture. Perf. Robert Reiser. ITunes U. Apple, 8 Feb. 2011. Web. 10 Apr. 2013.

 

•   Van Dongen, Carol J. “Experiences of family members after a suicide.” Journal of Family Practice Oct. 1991: 375+. Health Reference Center Academic. Web. 11 Apr. 2013.

 

•   Vorvick, Linda J., and David B. Merrill. "Suicide and Suicidal Behavior: MedlinePlus Medical Encyclopedia." U.S National Library of Medicine. U.S. National Library of Medicine, 11 Feb. 2012. Web. 15 Apr. 2013.

 

Images

•   Chapin, John. Teen lying on bed with gun. Digital image. The Cutting Edge News. The Cutting Edge News, 3 Mar. 2009. Web. 6 Apr. 2013.

 

•   Fasih, Ilmana. Offer Hope. Prevent Suicide. Digital image. TheNews Blog. N.p., 9 June 2012. Web. 6 Apr. 2013.

 

•   Friday, Leslie. For Suicide Survivors, Sharing Heals. Digital image. BU Today. Boston University, 13 Nov. 2012. Web. 5 Apr. 2013.

 

•   Golden, Bill. Noose. Digital image. Bill Golden Talks. WordPress, 1 May 2011. Web. 6 Apr.2013.
 

•   Gutzman, Corri Gryting. Pain Is Temporary. Suicide Is Permanent. Digital image. Redbubble. N.p., n.d. Web. 6 Apr. 2013.

•   Is Path Warm. Digital image. The University of Texas at Brownsville and Texas Soutmost College. N.p., 2013. Web. 25 Apr. 2013.

 

•   Mary. "The Soft That Detects Sad People on Market." InRumor.com. N.p., 23 June 2010. Web. 23 Apr. 2013.

 

•   National Suicide Prevention Lifeline. Digital image. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Nov.-Dec. 2008. Web. 5 Apr. 2013.

 

•   Pain vs. Coping Resources. Digital image. Suicide: Read This First. Metanoia, 27 Apr. 2012. Web. 5 Apr. 2013.        

 

•   Percentage of Suicides Among Persons Ages 10 Years and Older, by Sex and Mechanism, United States, 2005–2009. Digital image. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. N.p., 2 Apr. 2013. Web. 5 Apr. 2013.

 

•   Teen Suicide 2. Digital image. The Common Sense Show. WordPress, n.d. Web. 6 Apr. 2013.

 

•   Zanca, Stacy. Every Word Brings Hope. Digital image. N.p., 2010. Web. 6 Apr. 2013.