There is a line in a song that says “Suicide is painless, it brings on many changes” and while I am not sure about the first part of the song line, I am positive about the second part.  I have worked in the mental health arena for a dozen years or so and have certainly seen my share of various suicidal attempts.  One of these times, while working at a drug-abuse center, I answered the suicide hotline one evening and after 30 minutes on the phone I was able to persuade the person on the other end of the phone to take the shotgun away from his head and to let the police and ambulance who were at his front door into his home.  There was another time, while working in a psychiatric hospital, that I unfortunately witnessed the bloody outcome of a successful suicide by a determined patient.  During other times while working in various psychiatric hospitals and drug abuse facilities in the past I have seen or been a part of stopping suicidal individuals before they accomplished their lonesome chore.

Is suicide painless?  Once again, I don’t know.  Is it painless compared to what?  Is the reason why a person wants to take his or her own life so full of pain that ending this life will stop the pain?  Is thinking about putting a bullet into one’s brain painful to think about before pulling the trigger?  Is stopping a mental or physical ailment with a suicidal act less painful than the possibility of spending eternity in hell according to some religious beliefs?  Once again, I don’t know if suicide is painless.  But it most definitely does bring on many changes.

‘In 2010 there were 33,687 deaths from motor vehicle crashes which placed it second to the 38,364 suicides during the same year.’

I have seen the outcome of successful suicides from both the professional and personal level and all across the board these suicides have brought on many changes.  To the family and friends of a suicide victim, there are so many levels of emotions to experience that the after-effect seems like post-nuclear emotional Hiroshima.  A family member or friend seems to have a space of time where there is nothing to see or feel, yet there is everything to see and feel at the same time after the devastation of a suicide.  A sudden losing of loved ones by their own hand is something that a person is usually unprepared to understand or deal with.  Sure, there are some individuals who are suicidal throughout much of their life and when they finally accomplish their goal the after-effect is more muted with expectations and sometimes relief, but for the vast majority of people, self-inflected deaths are unexpected and shocking.

Although there are many personal reasons for individuals to take their own life, the cause or why a person may attempt suicide can all basically be boiled down to about six main overviews.

They are depressed.  Depression is usually the most common reason for suicide.  When people are experiencing severe depression they are usually also feeling a pervasive sense of suffering combined with a personal belief that escape from this mental darkness is hopeless.

They are psychotic.  Some people are just mentally ill, or become mentally ill much like how a person will become physically ill with a disease or cancerous growth.  With mentally ill people, they may hear malevolent inner voices commanding them to injure or kill themselves for unintelligible reasons.  An illness like a psychosis is more difficult to hide than depression and can more often lead to a tragic end.

They are impulsive.  This impulsiveness is usually accompanied by drug or alcohol-fueled maudlin thoughts leading to a quick and impulsive attempt of ending their own lives.

They are crying out for help.  Often times these cries for help go unanswered because the person doesn’t know how or where to get the help they think they need.  Most often these people do not want to die, but are seeking attention for some help and/or relief.  Not knowing which way to turn in their life, they will tend to alert those around them, hoping that someone will recognize that something is seriously wrong and come to assist them.

There is a philosophical desire of not wanting to live anymore.  This type of thinking is sometimes based on a rational, reasoned decision which is often exacerbated by the presence of a painful or terminal illness for which little or no hope or reprieve exists. They want to take control of their destiny and end it on their own accord.

They have made a mistake.  People make mistakes all the time and sometimes the mistakes are irreversible.  ‘Playing’ with an ‘unloaded’ gun or pretending to kill one ’s self can lead to a terrible mistake.  Or flirting with oxygen deprivation for the high it brings and then the situation simply goes too far is another example of a deadly mistake, as well as how pushing the limits of speed while driving a careening car can lead to self-inflicted accidents.

‘Suicide is the SECOND leading cause of death for ages 10-24.’

Sigmund Freud believed that suicide was a result of aggression turned inward, which is caused by having extreme anger pointed at an external situation, i.e.; angry at mom, the church, the government, the bank, the boss, etc. and feeling that it is unacceptable to be angrily aggressive at the outer agent or hurtful stimuli, therefore leading a person to take the outward anger and turn it into a excessive self-criticism and self-aggression, which can then turn into a reason for suicide.  Hopelessness and a feeling of impotency are some major feelings at times when dealing with society and being unable to lash out at the source of external anger, the suicidal person will 
help quiet the internal rage by striking out against his own life instead of taking someone else’s.

‘The most pronounced increases were seen among men in their 50s, a group in which suicide rates jumped by nearly 50 percent, to about 30 per 100,000.’

In the United States, there are more deaths by suicide than car accidents with the number of suicides in 2010 of 38,364.  That is like going to a standing-room-only Fenway Park to watch a baseball game and then being the only live person leaving the park after the game.  This number averages out to about 105 deaths a day in the United States in 2010, with most of these deaths completed with firearms.

Although suicide is on the rise, this disturbing trend can certainly be altered.  The best way is to become educated on the warning signs of suicide, not just for a family member or friend, but for your own self as well.  

With the help of the American Association of Suicidology, here is an easy, mnemonic technique to help you to remember the warning signs of suicide:

IS PATH WARM?

I    Ideation
S    Substance Abuse
      
P    Purposelessness
A    Anxiety
T    Trapped
H    Hopelessness
      
W    Withdrawal
A    Anger
R    Recklessness
M    Mood Changes

Also, if a person is talking about threatening to hurt or kill themself or others, or if they are actively looking for a way to kill them self by looking to get access to a gun or pills, then please take this seriously and gather a support group of family and friends to confront the person and if needed, contact a mental health professional.

The family and friends of a person who is “sad a lot” or “is always joking about killing themselves” can often times not realize that this person could have a serious problem.  Often times taking someone to the hospital or a psychologist can just seem to be a roadblock of sorts in getting someone help.  Unfortunately, the uninformed general public often seems to think that mental illness is just someone being lazy or acting crazy and all it takes to get well is to simply get serious and work harder, or not worry so much, or stop being a wimp.  Too often people think that a mental illness is a way for someone to get out of doing work and is not a real problem, but mental illness is just as real as physical illness, and should be treated as such. 

‘Veterans are killing themselves at more than double the rate of the civilian population with about 49,000 taking their own lives between 2005 and 2011.’

Why take a chance on a mistake that can never be undone?  When in doubt, contact a mental health professional before a family member or friend takes their own life while you chose to ignore the problem.  The ironic part of suicide is that the victim will not be hurting after the deed is successful, but the family and friends of the victim are the ones whose lives will have dramatically and irreversibly changed, and who will be beating themselves up wondering if only they could have done something before the final act was completed. These are the other unfortunate victims of suicide who will be suffering for a long, long time.  

So yes, suicide can bring on many changes. 

Rehabmart would like to add prayers and comfort to those who have lost a loved one to suicide, and hope to help prevent future suicides by encouraging people to not be shy and to get as intrusive as you need to get when concerned about a loved one. Please, when in doubt, contact your local suicide prevention center, or go to one of the following sites for more information on suicide.

American Foundation for Suicide Prevention

The Parent Resource Program  The Jason Foundation

TheVeterans Crisis Line can be reached online or by calling 800-273-8255.

Bill Stock
Executive Editor,
Content & Social Media Services
and
Hulet Smith, OT
Rehabmart Team Leader & CEO