Social Workers Suicide

Suicide does not generally come without warning. Almost always, persons considering it show symptoms or provide clues to their intent. It is important, however, for crisis workers to know how to read these and be able to distinguish between myth and reality. (Kanel, 2003, p. 76)

How do you think we as social workers can help those who are at risk for suicide?

Research and psychological studies show that suicidal behavior stems from at least one or more mental disorders that are treatable. Individuals with suicidal behaviors often feel hopeless which contributes to these behaviors and can lead to suicide attempts or succession. Recognizing these behaviors can save someone’s life, being compassionate, empathetic, and proactive can greatly reduce an individual’s suicide behavior. The goal is to recognize these behaviors and get help for these individuals quickly.

Suicide is a very sad subject for all those who have had a relative or friend who went through it. However, suicide doesn’t only go across teens minds it also happens to adults as seen in the article, “Survivors of Suicide Loss”. Jessica is the daughter of a man who went through suicide and she says, “The emotions that ran through me are close to indescribable, as I had never felt such pain. How this could have happened, and most importantly, how could this have happened to me and my family.” This is a case where the suicide was caused by depression. At the end of the day we all have to just try and be closer to those we care for and

overview of their lives and feelings, the therapist will get an insight into what the client is going through and a little of what brought them to their presenting issue. It is important at an early stage to make the client feel that there is hope and light at the end of the tunnel – without making unrealistic promises that cannot be reached. The therapist needs to make the client feel they are in safe hands and that they are being listened to and really heard. A potentially suicidal client should not leave a therapy session feeling worse than when they arrived, yet at the same time, the client needs to know that they may have to go through some difficult times in order to start to heal

In addition, for patients who are being treated for mental health problems or for those patients who I may suspect as being suicidal, I can work on gradually leading the patient to talk about their suicidality in order to get them to open up and gain their trust (Bryan & Rudd, 2006). For patients who have show suicidal thoughts or ideation in the past, I will work on treating the suicide as the behavior to change instead of focusing just on any comorbid mental health disorders (M. Class 4/10). I will focus on getting to know my patients better and the factors that have lead them to where they are in life. In order to help them the most, I will need to know their drivers and in order to do that, I will need to build rapport with them, so that they share with me. We will also work to build their coping skills, because I know how hard it can be to figure out coping mechanisms on your own especially when you are dealing with a crisis (M. Class

I hear my best friend heavily breathing on the other end of the line. “I want to do it, Itzell, I want to do it so badly,” she brings herself to say, breaking through tears. My best friend of 7 years wanted to commit suicide. As I had no experience nor knowledge as to how I could appropriately comfort her in her darkest moment, I felt powerless. It was at this instant that introduced depression’s burden into my life. I have been, since then, inspired to enlighten others on the subject as I realized how little mental illness awareness was available within my own community. For this reason, I urged my group members at Congressman Dr. Raul Ruiz’s Future Physician Leaders program to assist me in delivering a clear public service announcement about

Imagine someone’s best friend dies. Later this person discovers that their friend commit suicide. Envision this person’s feelings and all of the painful thoughts and memories going through their mind. This person probably feels intense sadness and maybe even betrayal. Do not forget the suicide victim’s parents. Their own child felt worthless enough to kill themselves. The students at the victim’s school have confusion, start rumors, and gossip. All of the victim’s friends feel as if the suicide happened because of them. Everyone feels as if they could have done something to prevent this tragic event. Suicide is a social issue rising in severity. Each year, over a million people commit suicide throughout the world. Suicide has the name of a

An issue in mental health counseling that affects the young and old, civilians and criminals alike is suicide. Suicidality can be considered both a legal and ethical issue in counseling depending on how the counselor handles the situations presented to him or her. The news articles I found each discuss different topics relating to suicide, but all have similar messages: not enough is being done through advocacy, education, and awareness. Legally and ethically, when one of these facets are not upheld problems can arise.

The First Amendment guarantees freedoms concerning religion, expression, assembly and the right to petition. In the case of religion and expression, there is a case that highlights both. In 2001, Emily Brooker attended Missouri State University in pursuit of a Social Work degree. In the fall of 2005, Emily was a senior and was faced with making the pressing decision to complete an assignment or fight for her First Amendment rights. She ultimately chose to fight with the help of prominent attorneys that would defend her First Amendment rights in this case.

Nurses who are practicing in public health, psychiatric units, schools, clinics, and hospitals can bring differences by creating awareness about the magnitude of the suicide problem, its risk factors, and preventive strategies. They can act as a bridge or liaisons between the community and available resources. The nursing profession always gives priority to prevention and promotion of health. Instead of watching and waiting for the signs and symptoms to exhibit themselves, nurses can take part in equipping teens and their parents with preventive skills to reduce the risk of suicide attempts (King & Vidourek, 2012). The nurses’ involvement in this issue increases the patient outcome. Early intervention of suicide is successful in lowering the risk factors among teens. It helps to promote and maintain their health from youth to adulthood without complications. Nursing profession can be at the forefront by promoting awareness, preventing risk factors, equipping teens with coping skills, and encouraging them to seek professional help. Increasing protective factors for teens can result in effective patient outcomes by reducing suicide ideations and

Australian statistics say that for every suicide completed there are 30 that have attempted. It is good to know the warning signs of suicide for risk management and suicide prevention. When people have suicidal thoughts you may hear them saying things like, “life isn’t worth living”, “everyone will be better without me”, “I cant deal with this anymore”, “I would be better dead” or “nobody understands me”; if you hear people saying a few of the following you should definitely look deeper into it. Suicide is the most serious symptom of server depression, warning signs of depression/suicide would be sad moods, change in persons weight or appetite, loss of interest the feeling of worthlessness, thoughts of death and self destructive behavior e.g. self medicating. When coming across these symptoms it is best to ask clear and direct questions, it may seem hard to bring the topic up; but it is best for the client to know that someone does care and is noticing. Some conversation starters you can use are “I have been feeling concerned about you lately “, “I just wanted to see if everything is okay, you haven’t been yourself lately” when client tells you how they feel you should go deeper by asking when they started feeling the way they do, how can I support you. You must be supportive and let them know that they are not alone that we are here and that they wont feel like that forever.

The effects of suicidal behavior or completed suicide on friends and family members are often devastating. Individuals who lose a loved one from suicide (suicide survivors) are more at risk for becoming preoccupied with the reason for the suicide while wanting to deny or hide the cause of death, wondering if they could have prevented it, feeling blamed for the problems that preceded the suicide, feeling rejected by their loved one, and stigmatized by others. Survivors may experience a great range of conflicting emotions about the deceased, feeling everything from intense sadness about the loss, helpless to prevent it, longing for the person they lost, anger at the deceased for taking their own life to relief if the suicide took place after years of physical or mental illness in their loved one. This is quite understandable given that the person they are grieving is at the same time the victim and the perpetrator of the fatal act.

     The three main things you can do when you have an inkling or know someone is considering suicide are: talk, listen, and look for warning signs. Asking a person and having them talk about how they feel greatly reduces their feelings of isolation and distress, which in turn greatly reduces the immediate risk of suicide. Some issues may never be completely resolved by talking or counseling, but a good counselor should be able to help a person deal with those issues constructively, and teach them better coping skills/better methods of dealing with problems in the future. Just being there for someone in their time of need shows them that someone does care, and sometimes that can make the difference.

Three people in my life have completed suicide; my uncle, my mom’s late fiance, and my step brother on my dad’s side, within four years of each other. I’ve witnessed each parental figure in my life become compromised by grief and the inevitable pain accompanying it, and I’ve seen the way depression can plague someone so deeply, even without the ending of suicide. The prevalence and growing numbers of deaths by suicide calls for a revised manner of education on all mental illnesses and the preventative measures one can take to reduce risk. Initially, when I heard of the Suicide Prevention Week Keynote event with Jamie Tworkowski (founder of ‘To Write Love On Her Arms’) I was thrilled. Hosting such an event on a college campus, presenting to a population greatly affected by mental illness, is demonstrative of the steps that should be taken toward raising awareness. Any opportunity for a comprehensive view on mental health and its significance is one to be taken advantage of. However, as the night proceeded, I did take note of several things that would improve the layout of any future events, as well as further deepen an individual’s comprehension of mental illness.