National suicide prevention week

Did you know that, in the United States, an average of 91.2 individuals per day, one per 15.8 minutes will die by suicide? Or that it’s estimated that more than 5 million people in the United States have been directly affected by suicide? Or that 52% of all persons who die by suicide use a firearm, kept in the home, to kill themselves?

Suicide is the eleventh leading cause of death in the United States. For young people between the ages of 15 to 24, suicide is the third leading cause of death, after accidents and homicides. The elderly make up 12.4% of the population, but account for 16.6% of all suicides.

Experts believe that most suicidal individuals do not really want to die, but rather they just want to end the pain they are experiencing. Experts also know that suicidal crises tend to be brief. When suicidal behaviors are detected early, lives can be saved. There are services available in our community for the assessment and treatment of suicidal behaviors and their underlying causes.

Here are some of the possible signs that someone who may be contemplating suicide may display:

threatening to hurt or kill oneself or talking about wanting to hurt or kill oneself;

looking for ways to kill oneself by seeking access to firearms, available pills, or other means;

talking or writing about death, dying, or suicide when these actions are out of the ordinary for the person;

feeling hopeless;

feeling rage or uncontrolled anger or seeking revenge;

acting recklessly or engaging in risky activities — seemingly without thinking;

feeling trapped — like there’s no way out;

increasing alcohol and drug use;

withdrawing from family, friends and society;

feeling anxious, agitated, or unable to sleep or sleeping all the time;

experiencing dramatic mood changes;

seeing no reason for living or having no sense of purpose in life.

Many of these signs are related to depression or other mental health issues, but feelings of hopelessness are found to be more predictive of suicide risk. Suicide can be prevented by raising awareness, seeking help for yourself or those close to you and recognizing the warning signs.

For more information about available services, please contact the Five County Mental Health Authority at 1.877.619.3761, or the 24-hour National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1.800.273.TALK(8255). If you go to www.suicidepreventionlifeline.org, you will be routed to the crisis center closest to you.

Together we can reduce the number of lives shaken by a needless and tragic death.