But most suicides are preventable, and our simple actions can help someone feel good and get out of such thoughts. If someone requests you to be there with them as they are not feeling good, you should always support them.
If you are offering them support, you should be able to identify if the person needs professional help or if they just require someone to talk to them.
If you are there to support someone during their suicidal thoughts, then it can be prevented in most cases. Research suggests that 90% of suicide attempt survivors do not go on to commit suicide, which means that just being there at the right time can prevent suicide in a majority of cases.
Below are some tips that might help your near and dear ones overcome suicidal thoughts or help them during the worst time of their life.
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What Make Someone Think About Suicide?
Everybody who thinks of suicide might have different factors or reasons behind it. If you notice someone more vulnerable to a specific risk, then it is more likely that they will have suicidal thoughts regularly. There are a few common risk factors, such as:
- Some people who undergo childhood trauma or events such as physical harassment may lead them to think of suicide.
- Major life events such as breakups or losing loved ones.
- Overconsumption of alcohol or drugs
- Getting angry even at a small issue
- Low social interaction
- Patients undergoing a mental health problem such as personality disorder or depression
- Patients undergoing disability or physical health problem
- Issues with work-life balance or poverty
Do Antidepressants Make Some Think Of Suicide?
Though there have many types of research done regarding the consumption of antidepressants and their relation with suicide, most of them are not conclusive in their results.
For example, one study that covered more than 200,000 patients concluded that while antidepressants help reduce the symptoms of depression, they might end up having the opposite effect on suicide rates rather than the one desired.
This paradox is more pronounced in younger patients, whereas suicide rates in older patients do come down instead of going up.
People who undergo these medications should be taken strict care of. These drugs should never be consumed by children. The reason behind it is that it may lead to suicidal thoughts and self-harm in these ages.
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Suicidal Thoughts
Some of the common thoughts that come to people’s minds which drive them towards suicide are as follows:
- They are a burden on others
- They have let others and themselves
- They are always neglected
- Nobody requires them
- What is the outcome of this life?
- No one can ever help me with my problem
- Nothing is left
- Things will always worsen
It is important to understand these thoughts in order to help the person who is feeling them. At times, people are guilty of assuming bad things even though they may have many people around them who love them and take care of them.
What Are Factors One Should Keep In Mind To Prevent Suicide?
Whenever you notice a change in someone’s behavior or personality, it is usually a sign that they are undergoing some serious issue or might be facing suicidal tendencies.
Following are the changes you might notice:
- Feeling anxious
- Feeling irritability at times
- Always remaining quiet
- facing regular changes in mood
- Behaving daringly
- Sleeping for long hours or not at all
- Trying to avoid people
- Talking bad about themselves.
Following are some more facts that let us know if a person is more prone to attempt suicide:
- Trying to kill or harm themself
- Mostly talking about suicide or writing things about it
- Trying to take different sort of medicines to end up their life
It becomes challenging to identify that someone is undergoing suicidal thoughts or is planning about it as the person might appear happy and fun-loving all the time.
People sometimes say things in a joke that might be related to their true thoughts and is a factor one should look at very closely.
Never try to ignore such people or whatever they might be going through, as there are chances that you can save their life. If someone contacts you to tell you about their feelings, try not to ignore them as it might help them overcome the thought of suicide.
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What Help Can Be Given To Someone Who Is Facing Suicidal Thoughts?
If you meet someone undergoing suicidal thoughts, you should ask them to speak their heart out in front of you or with the person they are most comfortable with.
If you ever feel like expressing your suicidal thoughts or feelings, then don’t hesitate because it happens to everyone. In such cases, it helps you to tell them:
- Let such people know that you are concerned about them.
- Try to empathize with them by saying that you are always there for them.
- Try not to blame them for whatever they are going through at the moment.
- Try repeating things whatever you listen to from them as it makes them feel assured about whatever they speak.
- Motivate them to live this life beautifully and try to listen to their thoughts about ending or living life.
- Try to ask people what their thoughts or feelings were like if they have ever experienced something like this in the past.
- Try to assure them that this might not happen to you again, for you will feel better in the future.
- Make them focus on the present and not on the future life.
- Always ask if they are planning to end their life or not and what preparations they have made for it.
- Ask them to call for help to people they find most comfortable with.
- They can even take the help of a doctor or a psychologist, or even the presence of a friend or family member might help them heal with their problems.
- Try to make sure that they always have someone with them in an emergency.
- Try to get professional help for them.
It is not always necessary to know the cause behind what a person is facing. Simply understanding them and listening to their thoughts during such times can prove helpful for them.
Also, it tells them how much they are loved. You can even ask them questions regarding how they are feeling or what their thoughts are about living or ending this life.
Some Of The Services That Might Help Someone Who Is Undergoing Suicidal Thoughts
Emergency services and Accident and Emergency (A&E)
If you know someone who is about to end their life or is undergoing suicidal thoughts, then you can call 999 or can take them to A&E to the nearby hospital if it is an emergency.
The hospital staff decides whether that person needs immediate help and needs to be admitted or not. Try not to hide anything from A&E staff members. You can even call the NHS helpline for mental health problems.
The NHS mental health helpline can be called for various reasons and people of all ages:
- People can take advice or talk to someone if they need it at any time of the day.
- People can talk to a psychologist or a professional who deals with such issues
- People can even ask for recommendations that might help them improve their condition.
Generally, all areas provide this service, and it is even called the Single Point of Access team at various places. One can easily find the details of your nearby NHS mental health helpline at this site, or you can even call 111 to know about the details.
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Another one is the home treatment team or Crisis team.
The service provided by this team is not based on money, it is a community service, and it gives you specialists, psychologists, therapists, or even a nurse if required. It provides help by calling them, and that is, through telephone assistance, you can quickly get help.
It provides help 24/7 for people who have registered themselves or their family members. It is easy for everyone around the country to reach the crisis team. One can even contact their near and dear ones as they are eventually helping you in your crisis.
Also, if you wish to meet someone during your life crisis, you can even ask the police of your area to help you in such a case, or even an NHS group can send some help.
Wrap Up!
There can be a series of rough days which can dishearten us. It is OK to rest during those days and let the negative feelings pass. After everything, in the end, we must understand that our life matters if not for us, then for those who have given us life or our friends and loved ones.
We hope all of the tips mentioned above and helplines might prove helpful and can even help you save someone’s life during a crisis. So you should keep the things mentioned above in your mind to quickly help someone who is undergoing such a difficult situation in their life.