Imagine this. You are stuck in an alternate universe all alone with ample supply of necessary essentials but no form of electronics. It may sound interesting and new at first but after a while the feeling of loneliness and boredom will kick in due to the lack of human interaction and electronics. The feeling of loneliness and emptiness is something that many people especially those that are suicidal would often feel. According to The World Health Organization it is estimated that approximately 1 million people die annually from suicide. In addition, suicide has also been labelled as the third leading cause of death amongst 15 to 29-year olds. Therefore, it is important to ensure that we keep ourself and our loved ones physically and mentally safe. Thus, in light to Suicide Prevention Month, I will be further elaborating on the reasons and symptoms to someone being suicidal and ways in which we can offer our help to them.
We all are well aware that suicide is referred as the action of killing oneself intentionally. However, this action is caused due to many reasons such as stress, depression and other mental health issues. Stress, something that each and every one of us face in our daily lives especially students. However, it is vital to have the appropriate amount of stress otherwise it can lead to anxiety, depression and self-harming behavior which can cause an individual to lead to suicide. Therefore, some ways in which we can reduce stress would be to exercise or even do something you love as a hobby such as taking pictures, reading books and even cooking. Apart from stress, depression and other mental health issues can also be a reason towards this severe action. Some possible reasons to why an individual is most likely to get depression or any other mental health problems would be due to family history, childhood trauma, medical condition and even due to their brain structure. This health issues might not be curable or will require an individual a period of time to recover. Therefore, it is important to act responsibly and carefully amongst them to prevent anything serious from happening at any costs.
Self-harming is also extremely common amongst many people. It is referred as a way to inflict pain on one’s self. It can be done in various forms such as scratching, cutting, burning such that is causes an external injury on themselves. From a recent data, it has been shown that self-harm occurs mostly amongst teenagers or young adults ranging from 6% to 14% for adolescent boys and 17% to 30% for females. This habit is picked up by many as a form of releasing any unwanted emotions such as guilt and embarrassment. Upon picking up this habit, it may help temporarily but in the long run it would affect you such that not only does your mental health deteriorate but also your physical health. Therefore, it is crucial to stop this habit as soon as possible and pick up a more suitable habit that will bring you benefits instead. It would undoubtably take a lot of time but it would be worth it especially in the long run.
“A smile can find so hide of pain”, which shows that not everyone will physically show how much of pain or what problems they are facing throughout their lives to people. As a result, we must be well aware to ensure we can sense and help someone in times of need. Hence, some signs to show that someone is suicidal would be sleep problems, excessive sadness, hopelessness, a change in personality, talks about suicide or experience a trauma. In terms of excessive sadness would be unexpected rage, feeling sad for long period of time whereas for hopelessness it would mean hardly any expectations for the future. Talking about suicide or having a recent trauma would provide a clear indication towards someone being suicidal in many occasions. Therefore, it is important to properly identify their problems and provide them with a proper solution.
Providing a proper solution may seem hard especially for this group of people. Thus, it is important to know what is best for them. For those facing this issue, it is important to talk it out with a trusted adult, it can be a family member or counselor just someone you are comfortable sharing with as they would be able to provide you a more experienced advice and will understand you clearly. On the other hand, for those whom know people that are attempting or contemplating of suicide be a listening hear and hear them without any judgments, reassure them and not tell them how they should feel are some ways that would we can provide help to those in need.
“You have the power to say that this is not how my story will end”. Despite this being a sensitive matter, it is important to advocate suicide prevention to show your support to help people whom you know and do not know that there is hope for the future and not to give up on it. In conclusion, do not end your life just to stop the pain but instead fight it through and maybe someday inspire others. Just remember this verse from the Kelly Clarkson song, Stronger “What doesn’t kill you, makes you stronger”.
Nisha‘s blog 