SUICIDE PREVENTION
When an individual believes his or her circumstance to be hopeless, he or she may become desperate for a way out. Finding none, some will take their own lives. In 1978, over 25,000 persons committed suicide. And suicide is now the nation’s 10th largest killer. Through understanding, we can act to help reduce the number of suicides. The first priority is to know how to recognize suicidal symptoms in ourselves or in others. These include chronic depression, change of personality, talk of hopelessness, fatigue, sleeplessness, lowered self-esteem, loss of personal pleasure, and personal crisis. The potential victim wants to live. Suicide is considered and planned only as a solution of last resort to be used when problems become too much of a burden. The would-be victim usually wants and asks for help, but the manner of asking for help may not be easily recognized. There are exceptions, particularly men, who do not ask for help because they keep their feelings bottled up inside as they become less and less involved with other people. The typical suicide victim has tried suicide at least once before without success. This is an extreme method of asking for help. They can therefore be distinguished from persons suffering from chronic fatigue and depression as a result of lesser types of conflict. The byproducts of various conflict situations include absenteeism, low productivity, alcohol, drugs, child abuse, wife beating, and other similar problems. These actions are cries for help as well as a means to temporarily escape the real crisis situation.
Persons who seek any form of escape, or who exhibit any of the heretofore named depression symptoms are potential suicide victims. To help prevent their actual suicide, they must be engaged in a meaningful problem-solution dialogue. This should be undertaken by professionals and supported by relatives, friends, and neighbors. Local suicide prevention centers can also be of considerable help. Once hope is re-established, the danger of suicide may pass. Few people want to take their own lives, they just want to find a way to get out from under the burden of the crisis. Being unable to find their own solution, they are forced to depend upon others for help. As previously stated, most potential victims do ask for help. All too often they are not heard, or they are heard by persons who do not understand the situation. We must be more alert to this need in our crisis-prone civilizatin. Look for potential suicide symptoms in those around you, and offer to help when you are needed. Use local community self-help to find solutions to personal tragedy, chronic unemployment, or other root causes of personal crisis which can lead to suicide. See the National Emergency section for specific types of problem solving at the community level. By giving people the opportunity to find solutions to their problems, suicides can be stopped.
