Transcript Suicide Rates in the United States

Suicide is not a disease. It is an expression of a host of
emotions, hopelessness, guilt, sorrow, loneliness, rage, fear
and shame.
Never suicide is an instant decision and execution. It is a long
term effect of so many conditions.
Paradoxically, the act often occurs at a point when the
individual appears to be emerging from the deepest phase of
the depressive attack.
Adolescence with its myriad adjustment problems, is one of
the peak danger periods. The suicidal impulse may develop in
early or later adolescence between the ages of 14-18 years.
This is the most difficult time for the young person to adjust
to a new status and to a new social expectation.
The aim of this lecture is to apprise you
about suicide, its early detection along
with its multifarious dimensions.
● Suicide
● Types of suicide
● Causes of suicide
● Risk factors of suicide
● Signs of suicidal intend
● Suicidal impact on others
● Measures to prevent suicide in training academy
Fatal
: Attempted to suicide and completed it.
Non-Fatal
More common in men (for unemployment, loneliness,
withdrawn from relationship, deprivation of love, drug
& physical
: abuse
Attempted
to illness).
suicide but outcome is not death
(Para-suicide).
Those
who
do not actually
complete
suicide are believed
Most
suicidal
acts are
taken
to want to survive and to have made a suicide gesture for
with ambivalent intention
psychological ends (i.e. manipulation, a cry for help).
More common in women under 25 (for acute personal
crisis).
Sociological
 Changing
structure
family
 Marital breakdown
 Changing
values and
practices
Psychological
Biological
 Mental well being
 Genetics
 Personality
 Psychiatric illness
 Psychosocial
 Physical illness
cultural
religious
 Unemployment
 Drugs
 Increased availability
of methods of suicide
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PERSONALITY STRUCTURE
ID
EGO
SUPER EGO
PRIMITIVE &
UNCONSCIOUS
EXECUTIVE OF
THE PERSONALITY
OR MEDIATOR
GOAL
IDEAL / LEARNED
/ MORAL
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PSYCHOSOCIAL VIEW
Basic self
concept
Transitory
Self
concept
Key stone
of
personality
Social self
concept
Ideal self
concept
Continue..
All suicides have three interrelated and unconscious dimensions :
A wish to kill
Revenge/hate
Depression /
hopelessness
A wish to die
Guilt
A wish to be killed
Following are the best predictors of suicidal intent :
1.
Hopelessness
2.
Mental illness
3.
Physical illness
4.
Substance disorder (alcoholism or drug dependence)
5.
Previous psychiatric history
6.
Family psychiatric history
7.
Previous suicide attempts
8.
Broken homes
9.
Social status
Signs may be of overt or covert and written or oral :
1.
Statement of hopelessness or worthlessness
2.
Preoccupation with death
3.
Suicidal reference in drawing, poems or any written form
4.
Change in eating and sleeping habits
5.
Withdrawal from friends, family and regular activities
6.
Violent actions, rebellious behavior or running away
7.
Drug and alcohol use
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8.
Unusual neglect of personal appearance
9.
Marked personality changes, like persistent boredom, difficulty in
concentrating or decline in quality of academic and professional work
10. Frequent complaints about physical symptoms often related to emotions,
like stomachache, headache, fatigue etc.
11. Loss of interest in pleasurable activities
12. Not tolerating praise or rewards
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An adolescent who is planning to commit suicide usually gives the following
signs and symptoms :
1.
Complain of being bad person or feeling “rotten inside”
2.
Give verbal hints with statements such as, “I won’t be problem for you
much longer”, “Nothing matters”, It’s no use”, “I won’t see you again”
3.
Give away favorite possessions, clean his/her room, throw away
important belongings etc.
4.
Become suddenly cheerful after a period of depression
5.
Have signs of psychosis (hallucinations of bizarre thoughts)
6.
Have previous attempts
7.
Serious depression and mood swing
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8.
Loss of energy and motivation
9.
Loss of interest in daily activities
10. Fatigue
11. Poor self-esteem with self reproach
12. Guilty feelings
13. A sense of helplessness and hopelessness
14. Expression of suicidal intent
15. Conduct disorder
16. Disruptive and unsupportive family background
17. Relationship conflict
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18. Poor coping skills
19. Psychiatric illness
20. The ready availability of lethal means to commit suicide
21. Recent bereavement
22. Chronic physical illness
23. Withdrawal and isolation
24. Friendliness
25. Feeling of not belonging
26. Embarrassment before peers
Suicide has a devastating emotional impact on surviving family members
and friends :
1.
Makes others feels abandoned, helpless and rejected
2.
A family member or friend may have the added burden of discovering
the body of suicide victim
3.
Parents often suffer exaggerated feelings of shame & guilt
4.
Survivors may avoid talking to others about the person who died
5.
Others may avoid the survivors
6.
Highly publicized suicide-those of celebrities may cause vulnerable
persons, especially teens, to kill themselves
Training environment is one of the vulnerable factors to become depressed.
The following steps can be taken by the officers/personnel related to
training as a precaution to prevent suicide :
1.
He/she should be educated enough regarding the sign and symptoms of
the suicidal acts.
2.
Need based assessment program can be arranged.
3.
Counseling the individual cadet.
4.
Be more alert when stressful situation occurs.
5.
When cadets are terminated or relegated, due supervision should be
given to them.
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6.
When cadets are lagging behind on any subject, special attention
should be given to them.
7.
When breaking any news to any cadet, somebody should accompany
them.
8.
Any emotional situation occurs, it should be handled maturely.
Suicide in most cases, resulting from frustration, depression, overt or marked
anger, or a rebellious act.
It is often intended as a warning or revenge to parents or loved ones or authority
(an expression of dissatisfaction or displeasure with existing unpleasant
situation)
Suicide is not a disease. It is an expression of a host of emotions, depression,
frustration, hopelessness, guilt, sorrow, loneliness, rage, fear and shame.
Never suicide is an instant decision and execution. It is a long term effect of so
many conditions.
Continue..
Paradoxically, the act often occurs at a point when the individual appears to be
emerging from the deepest phase of the depressive attack.
Most people who are suicide-prone have long histories of gloominess,
withdrawal, anxiety and other problems. They have suffered from personality
sickness.
Adolescence with its myriad adjustment problems, is one of the peak danger
periods. The suicidal impulse may develop in early or later adolescence between
the ages of 14-18 years. This is the most difficult time for the young person to
adjust to a new status and to a new social expectation.
Suicide Rates in the United States
Suicide ranks as one of the top ten causes of death in the United States. People over the age
of 75 have the highest suicide rates, apparently due to the debilitating effects of physical
illness, loss of social roles, and untreated depression.