With the recent high-profile suicides of Kate Spade and Anthony Bourdain, we wanted to touch upon the topic of suicide prevention. People commonly question whether it’s possible to prevent a person from taking their own life. A recent article in Psychology Today addressed ways in which suicide can be prevented. For anyone contemplating suicide, please reach out for help. The National Suicide Hotline is 1-800-273-8255.
Research show that there are essentially four ways we know how to reduce suicide:
1) Restricting access to lethal methods: We know that putting time and space between someone who is experiencing a suicidal crisis and lethal methods of self-harm is one of the most effective ways to prevent a tragedy. Barriers on bridges, locking away guns, or hiding medications can often give those who are struggling something they desperately need: time. Time to change their mind, time to reach out for help, time for someone to intervene.
2) Safe media reporting and portrayals of suicide: More than 100 years of research show that certain ways in which the media reports on suicide and ways in which entertainment portrays it can lead to what we call suicide contagion or copycatting. Encouraging media to follow recommendations for safe reporting and Hollywood to use these guidelines for shows dealing with suicide can reduce the risk of contagion. It also helps to inform the public about warning signs, risk factors, and help that is available.
3) Decreasing stigma about mental illness: Studies confirm that nearly 90 percent of people who die from suicide have an underlying mental illness such as depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, anorexia, and/or a substance abuse disorder. These may or may not be being recognized or diagnosed. We also know that shame, stigma, and misinformation about mental illness lead many people to not seek treatment. Talk therapy, often in combination with medications, is considered the most effective form of treatment.
4) Connectivity: More and more data confirms that having a strong sense of community helps reduce risk of suicide. Humans are social animals and isolation can be painful. This is not to say that those who have died from suicide didn’t have supportive friends and family or religious institutions. The vast majority do, but often the underlying illnesses can make them feel isolated, or they self-impose isolation, which is why one warning sign of suicide is someone withdrawing from friends and activities they use to enjoy.
To continue reading this article on Psychology Today, click here.
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