According to World Health Organization, Suicide is an emerging and serious public health issue in India.
It is important to know that the mere thought of suicide may not lead to suicide by death. It is known as Suicide intent. Suicide Intent is having a thought of self-harm. Suicide ideation is planning to self-harm by writing suicidal letter, procuring the material required to resort to self-harm.
It also may not lead to Suicide by death. Death by suicide is considered unnatural death and leaves the most affected persons in severe pain.
Possible Reasons for Suicidal Behavior
The reasons for the suicidal behavior may be categorized inductively such as Financial losses, Relationship issues, Domestic violence, Loss of self-esteem. For instance students who fail in an exam consider himself or herself as failure, Worthlessness, Hopelessness, lack of coping skills to handle the pressure.
In addition to that, personality disorders such as Borderline personality disorder, Antisocial personality disorder, Mental Health issues such as Depression, Anxiety disorders, Psychotic illness such as Schizophrenia, Substance use disorders increase the risk of an individual to exhibit suicidal tendencies.
There are chances of any suicidal attempt turning to Death by suicide because of Impulsiveness.
For example, Mr. Krishna, a farmer after suffering loss of his crop, was severely in debt trap. He never talked about the financial problem or his thoughts on suicide to anyone. He took advantage of the available fertilizer, and his impulsivity drew him to commit suicide and finally ended his life.
Impulsive behavior and the easy access of lethal material can succumb to life.
What are we missing out on?
“What people say is a small part of what they are actually communicating in any interaction” –Shirzad Chamine
When an individual talks about suicidal intent, generally the anxious listener may react as:
Is this for this reason that you want to commit suicide?
Don’t you think your thoughts are silly?
Why are you getting such thoughts?
You are thinking a lot about it, just leave it and do your job. You will be fine soon.
If any of us are reacting as above, then we are missing what the person is undergoing internally. These questions trivialize the reasons and reiterate the thoughts of the individual who wants to commit suicide to act according to his will.
We are overlooking the psychic pain of the individual having suicidal thoughts or behavior.
The perception of a situation or a context or an issue is different to different individuals. Therefore, it is difficult to experience the psychological pain of an individual unless the other person has empathy towards the said individual.
How active listening helps?
Actively listening to the one who is suffering from suicidal thoughts without judging his or her thoughts or behavior. It may not solve the problem at core, but it reduces the pain associated with the thoughts.
A healthy Psychosocial support system is an important factor in reducing the pain associated with suicidal behavior. For instance, a man who works under constant pressure of deadlines may get suicidal intent daily but back at home his quality family time builds his resilience capacity to deal with the bottled-up stress.
Is it possible to prevent suicides?
Awareness of suicide helplines is first step. Helplines act as a crisis intervention strategy.
When an individual encounters any vulnerability, trying to talk to near and dear is another preventive strategy. If it does not work, stepping out and approaching a Mental Health Professional is the need of the hour. Self-help is the best help.
