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person had reached out to him as he approached the bridge’s edge, he
would not have jumped. We can overcome these hidden burdens of
shame, secrecy, and the stigmas associated with mental health and
suicide. Change starts with awareness.
Awareness & Intervention
There has been a huge increase in suicides over the years and, with
the recent loss of celebrities in the news such as Kate Spade to
Anthony Bourdain, it seems more prevalent than ever. The publicity
has made us all realize our mental wellbeing is just as essential as our
physical wellbeing and hopefully will help to speed up the long overdue
process of de-stigmatizing mental health illness and encouraging
discussion. People want to understand suicide better and, through
education, we believe there is a better chance for prevention.
We need it now more than ever.
Mississippi and our nation are in a crisis. Suicides have increased
almost 30% in the past decades, reaching epidemic proportions–and
they are escalating.
• Statistics show suicide is the second leading cause of death of those
age 10-24. It has been reported one in five students in middle school
and high school has given suicide serious thought, and one in ten
students are believed to have attempted suicide. Consider the drastic
change in our society brought on by the rise of social media–bullying
and cyberbullying are significant sources of trauma and pain for many
of our youth.
• Suicide is the tenth leading cause of death in the US, and there are
almost one million suicides reported yearly worldwide. There are more
than twice as many suicides as homicides.
• Our past and present public servants are paying a substantial cost.
Suicide is the second leading cause of death among our military and over
twenty veterans a day die from suicide. Police officers are more likely
to die from suicide than in the line of duty. Statistics have been difficult
to gather on first responders, but data shows that first responders have
a 40% higher incidence of suicide than the general public.
• Men are four times more likely than women to die by suicide,
though women are more likely to attempt it. The disparity is due in
part to men choosing more lethal means.
• Approximately one in five adults in the US, 43.8 million, experiences
mental illness, and about one in twenty-five adults in the US experiences
a severe mental illness that interferes with or limits one or more major
life activities. Experiencing a mental illness is the leading indicator of
suicide risk.
• Research has shown alcoholism can be one of the strongest
predictors of suicide. People with substance use disorders are about six
times more likely to commit suicide than the general population.
Substance abuse not only increases the likelihood that a person will
take their own life but is also a means of completing suicide. One in
three people who die from suicide is under the influence of drugs,
typically opiates or alcohol at the time of their death. With and
without an addiction, many people abuse alcohol or drugs in an
attempt to relieve the symptoms of depression, anxiety or other mental
health conditions. While under the influence they may lose inhibitions
and take risks they would not ordinarily consider.
• A large percentage of adults completing suicides have seen a
physician in the past twenty-four hours, past week, past month and
within the year. It has become essential for physicians and those
working in the healthcare environments to become diligent activists
for awareness and prevention. The Columbia Suicide Severity Rating
Scale (C-SSRS) is a critical tool in preventing suicide. The C-SSRS
supports suicide risk assessment through a series of simple, plainlanguage
questions with some variations among different groups.
1 A wish to die
2 Non-specific active suicidal thoughts
3 Active suicidal thoughts with any methods (not a plan) with the
intent to act
4 Active suicidal ideation with some intent to act, without a specific
plan
5 Active suicidal ideation with a specific plan and intent
6 Attempted suicide, began a suicide attempt that was interrupted
by another person, or stopped of their own volition
The answers help professionals identify whether someone is at risk
for suicide, assess the severity and immediacy of that risk, and gauge
the level of support the person needs.
And even though the numbers are on the rise, they still aren’t
entirely accurate as suicides are under-reported for a variety of reasons.
In fact, some experts estimate suicide incidence may be 10-15% higher
than officially reported. We can't ignore these unacceptably high rates,
nor can we sit back and presume these numbers will decrease on their
own. We must act.
We need to identify those suffering in silence–collaborating for the
best intervention begins with awareness and seeking help–and in the
aftermath of a suicide, we must also support those left behind.
Post-Suicide (Postvention) Support
The post-suicide aftermath can be overwhelming for survivors
and those left behind, causing intense feelings of brokenness, pain,
heartache, despair, and guilt worse than they have ever experienced.
Immediate support can be crucial, and the support of family and friends
is essential. Seeking available support groups and a counselor and/or
physician may be necessary to help them through the immediate grief
and afterward. A loss to suicide can be a lifelong grief process of
moving forward not moving on. Many survivors know trusting in
God is the only way they can, and do, survive.
It is also essential that workplaces and schools have the support
and tools ready to respond to a suicide; an action plan for both the
acute phase, recovery phase, and reconstructing phase should be in
place. Collaborating with agencies that manage these events with the
facility and the media (where appropriate) can be essential for better
mental coping.
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