It is very important for one to know if someone is suicidal because now more than ever, the world is seeing more and more people losing their lives to suicide. In fact, suicide has been found to be the second leading cause of death in the United States for 15-34 year-olds. More so, a survey in of high school students in the US shows that as much as 16% of students have seriously considered suicide.
The most unfortunate thing is that there are many people around us all who may be contemplating suicide even those that may seem to be having the best of lives. Here are ways to know if someone is suicidal to be able to save loved ones and others around you.
Ways to know if someone is suicidal
1. Has the person ever attempted suicide
Not too many people that have attempted suicide get to survive it. However, if anyone has ever attempted it, there is a possibility that such a person may attempt again, so the first thing to always consider is whether or not one has ever attempted it.
2. Suicidal Talk
Most people that have gone on to commit suicide have before then, been involved in suicidal talks with either close friends or even on social media. This may either be as a way of seeking for help or even in an attempt to get the opinion of others.
3. Change in the manner of their talks
When people begin to talk in a final tone like they are about leaving, they may, among other things, be planning a suicide. For example, if someone is talking about how you have been a close friend or how he believes everything will be fine even without him.
4. When they start giving off their possessions
If someone suddenly starts giving possessions they love away, that could as well be a red flag that something may not be very okay. This is even more serious when such possessions are things they wouldn’t give away easily.
5. Drug or Alcohol Abuse
Another way to know if someone is suicidal is when among other signs on the list, one suddenly begins abusing drugs and alcohol. This may sometimes be in an attempt to get themselves away from reality. More so, there are some that may begin abusing substance in order to be able to carry out the suicide.
6. Are they becoming risky?
Another important thing to consider is whether or none is leading a very risky life. If suddenly you find someone who used to be careful suddenly living a very risky life, taking unnecessary fights and more, it could also be that such a person may just be suicidal.
7. Is the person depressed?
Depression is the highest cause of suicide, unfortunately, you can hardly tell if someone is suffering from depression unless they tell you. If someone has complained about depression over and over again and begins to show some of the signs above, it may just be that the person may be planning on suicide.
Depressed people show signs of hopelessness, irritability and agitation, insomnia, anxiety and panic attacks, as well as hopelessness and lack of interest in things they used to love.
8. Family History
We all walk our paths, but somehow, we are not too far from our families or to history. So you can also know if someone is suicidal if one is from a family that has suffered from mental illness and other suicidal tendencies. More to this is if one’s family members have committed or attempted suicide or if one has attempted it in the past.
See Also: Depression Treatment: 17 proven things to do that would not fail you
When people lose their loved ones through suicide, it could put them at a higher risk of suicide themselves as a result of emotional issues.
9. Trauma
People who suffer from trauma or have posttraumatic stress disorder are in the major risk factor for being depressed and then committing suicide. It is because of this that the number of soldiers dying from suicide is higher than the number of those dying from combat.
10. No motivation for social life and low energy
Suicidal people tend to withdraw from friends and social activities when something isn’t going well in their lives, and they also tend to have low energy and motivation to do anything, including to keep living. The withdrawal may sometimes be to help them get back themselves, but it could also mean they are suicidal.
11. They no longer care about their physical appearance
When people who typically take their appearances very serious suddenly begin to go unkempt without caring about how they look even when they are going out, it could mean that they are gradually losing or they have lost interest in living.
12. Looking for the easiest way to die
You can also know if someone is suicidal when they begin to look for the easiest ways to die by either asking or searching the internet. There are so many people who do this before ending their lives.
13. Dangerous arms and pills
If someone suffering from other symptoms above and has firearms or plenty of pills around them, there may be something to worry about because such a person may, in fact, just be suicidal.
14. Dropping a goodbye message
Most times when people drop goodbye messages on the internet, send a message or call to say goodbye, they are neither bluffing nor pranking. Get help because they may have concluded to commit suicide.
Note
At the end of the day, while there are those who only need to display one of the symptoms above before the alarm bells can begin to sound, suicidal people are more likely to show more than one of those. Importantly, they mostly do not show these signs as openly, but it can sometimes be detected most especially when it is someone you are close to or a loved one.
Causes of Suicide
Apart from the above to know if someone is suicidal, there are some risk factors to be considered including these:
- Bullying and Abuse: People who suffer this are very likely to attempt suicide
- Substance abuse
- End of a relationship
- Fear of disgrace.
- Advanced age
- Very serious disappointments
- Struggles with sexual identity
- Substance abuse.
- Major disappointments.
See Also: Women live longer than men: 21 reasons why that is very true
Quick Facts About Suicide
- In every 16.2 minutes someone dies by suicide on the average
- There are at least 6 people that are intimately affected by each suicide.
- While women are prone to having more suicidal thoughts than men, men commit suicide more than women accounting for as much as 79% of all suicides.
- Each year, 1 in every 65,000 children between the ages of 10 and 14 die by suicide.
- There are twice as many deaths by suicide than by HIV/AIDS.
- Close to 2/3 of people who die by suicide were depressed at the time of their deaths.
- Depression is the number 1 cause of suicide.
Intervention
- Read the signs and understand them. For you to intervene, you have to first of all know that someone is suicidal.
- The CLUES is important- This stands for Connect, Listen, Understand, Express concern, and Seek help. This is something very important to do.
- Find a way of connecting with the person
- Give them listening ears.
- Above most things you can do is to get professional help.
