Suicide

Does that word scare you?  It scares the crap out of me (and I'm trained mental health professional).   It especially frightens those who have thoughts about suicide and are considering following through.  The families and loved ones also suffer.

I've met with quite a few individuals who experienced so much relentless and unrelieved pain, hopelessness, helplessness and depression that they couldn't envision the notion that they could feel better.  Some contemplated taking their lives. 

Suicidal ideation is a common psychological term for thoughts about suicide but without follow-through.  These thoughts may be fleeting or come on a more regular basis.

Ideation may involve:

• a detailed plan
• imagining what it would be like
• self-harming
• unsuccessful, failed attempts

Having a detailed plan is when a person decides the where, how and when of a suicide.  For those who develop them, it's a concrete attempt to control their anguish in a chaotic and painful life.  A completed plan can actually bring temporary relief to the person's torment. 

Thoughts of hurting or killing oneself is pretty common among the general population.  Surprised?  Sometimes when one is in the depths of misery and despair, the mind goes to "what would happen if I..."  Again, it's an internal cognitive strategy to assess one's pain and consider the consequences of following through.   

Self-harming is a coping mechanism used by people who cannot and do not express the negative feelings that cause them immense distress (they often report feeling "numb"), and the act of damaging their bodies provides pain which temporarily pushes their anguish aside.  Some ways in which people harm themselves include pulling off fingernails or toenails, peeling skin off of fingers or feet, smashing fingers/toes with a hammer, and scratching the skin until it bleeds.  For example, people who cut often report a sense of being alive and the ability to feel something.  Guilt about cutting then sets in, and unfortunately the cycle continues. 

A failed suicide attempt refers to a harmful, self-administered act that did not result in death. Some are regarded as not true attempts at all, but rather what's called "parasuicide" (a non-fatal act in which a person deliberately causes injury to him or herself or takes an excessive dose of any prescribed or over-the-counter medications, but not enough to be fatal).

An important and disturbing statistic to think about is that one-third of people who attempt suicide will repeat the attempt within one year, and about 10% of those who threaten or attempt suicide eventually do kill themselves.  Therefore, we never take any of these ideations lightly.

[For suicide warning signs, go to this blog entry.]

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There's a saying that "Suicide is a permanent solution to a temporary problem."  If you or someone else has developed a detailed plan, is having disturbing thoughts, self-harming or is tempted to try parasuicide, call 911 immediately for help.  

(c)2012 Robyn M. Posson