Suicidal Callers

Suicidal CallersLETN-405-0705Notes• If you ask people about suicidal intentions, you will encouragethem to kill themselves.Bringing up this topic is not going to encourage or suggest thatsomeone should kill himself; he is not going to think “hey, thatis a good idea” and commit the act. Research has shown thatyou will not cause someone to consider suicide by asking aboutit. Again, the best course of action is to deal with the situation ina straightforward manner. It is perfectly okay, and encouraged,to directly ask someone about suicidal intentions.Telecommunicators will not cause someone to commit suicide byasking if that person is thinking of killing himself.• Suicide is a spontaneous activity that occurs without warning.Suicide is not a spontaneous activity. Someone does not justdecide to kill himself and then commit the act. A number ofwarning signs exist that almost every person displays. Mostsuicides have specific reasons, specific objectives, and adetailed plan.V. TOPIC 2What are Some Reasons People Commit Suicide?People commit suicide for many different reasons. Some of the mostcommon reasons are:• loss of a loved one.• loss of status such as being fired, retirement, bankruptcy.• poor marital and family relations.• drug or alcohol abuse.• wanting to escape an intolerable situation.• wanting to gain attention.• wanting to manipulate others.• wanting to be punished.• wanting to avoid punishment.• wanting to control when death will occur.• wanting to punish others.• wanting revenge.All these reasons for suicide, along with many other reasons, lead to one offour types of crises. All suicidal people are in crisis, and their crisis fits intoone of four general categories: economic crisis, person/social crisis,psychological crisis, and physical crisis.Law Enforcement Training Network 5