DON'T DO IT, PLEASE . . .KEEP SAYING IT !

  

September is "Suicide Awareness Month".  Every day is a time for awareness and attention.  We still await  knowledge of the impact of Covid-19 on suicide. However, as the  Johns Hopkins Psychiatry Guide reported "previous pandemics have been associated with increase in suicide rate" and "The  Covid-19 pandemic exacerbates multiple factors that may increase suicide".  In light of that, I am reposting an entry from a few years ago.


        SUICIDE

           There's the word, 
               the anxiety provoking word,  
                    the monster  word
  that we fear to say.
             It's a taboo word and we use all kinds and sorts of euphemisms to avoid speaking it: "Are you planning to harm yourself?";  "You're not going to do anything  to yourself, are you?"

And, by the way, asking someone if they intend to kill themselves has been shown neither to plant the idea nor to 'cause' someone to do so.  Quite the opposite.  On more than one occasion when I have asked the question in straightforward manner, the response has been something like, "Thank God someone finally asked !"

   Deaths by suicide of 'celebrities' has been the news recently.  But, grimly, it is a Public Health issue that impacts persons all across the socioeconomic spectrum.  Between 1999 and 2016 deaths by suicide increased by 30 % and suicide is now the # 10 cause of death in the United States.

    "Why?" is a usual question and there seem to be many "answers".   Not all those who took their lives by suicide had known mental health issues.  Major Depression while still a huge risk factor hardly accounts for all the misery.  Among the reasons sometimes offered are: to escape pain; not to be a burden on family and friends; purposelessness; financial pressures; relationship tumult; military deployment and trauma being among those often cited.  White males with firearms are the demographic that has the highest death toll.  

    Dr. Richard A. Friedman in a June 11, 2018, New York Times column wrote, "The simple reason suicide has been neglected for so long is stigma. . . .  It is wrongly seen as a character or moral flaw --or  even a sinful act. . . . We should declare war on suicide--just as we've done with  other public health threats like H.I.V. and heart disease -- and give it the research and clinical funding needed to beat it."

   Crisis hot lines have experienced a huge spike in calls since the latest headlines.  Skills in spotting  and addressing  potential suicidal situations while obviously anxiety producing can be learned.

    Among the more accessible competence building  programs that I have known are Living Works based in Alberta, Canada, but with educational programs over wide geographic areas and QPR (abbreviation for Question, Persuade and Refer).  More information about these programs can be found by an internet search.

   The national suicide hotline is reached by dialing  1-800-273-8255  (TALK).  Also,  texting "Talk" to 741741 puts a person in touch with help.

    While some persons may believe that they are a burden and believing their being gone would make life easier for their survivors, the truth is to the contrary. 

    Several years ago, I attended the memorial service for a friend whose depression had resulted in his death by suicide.  During the service, several persons expressed the hope that his soul was now at peace.  His adult son later expressed his anger and hurt in saying, "He might be at peace but I would like to dig him up and kill him!"

    To anyone inclined to "end it all", the plea is simple:
"DON'T DO IT , PLEASE !"

      Satchel