Why do people contemplate suicide?
It is something very difficult to understand if you have never considered taking your life. What’s more, even specialists in the field find it difficult to hypothetically put themselves in that situation. However, mental health factors and life circumstances are known to play a role, such as depression, psychosis, addictive substance use, bipolar disorder, and post-traumatic stress disorder.
However, not all people with these conditions commit suicide, and not only those who do. There are life factors that have caused thousands of people to die by suicide: deaths of loved ones, breakups, loss of children or close friends, financial stress, feelings of shame and failure, terminal or extremely painful medical conditions, legal problems, trauma of childhood, racism or any other type of discrimination, sexual orientations not accepted by the nuclei
How can you tell if someone is contemplating suicide?
It’s not always that easy to spot (if it were, maybe thousands of people would still be here). However, experts agree that there are certain very definite warning signs that indicate that someone could be thinking about committing suicide, but not all suicides present. These signs include the following:
- They talk a lot about death and violence
- They talk about dying or wanting to die
- They withdraw from their friends and loved ones
- Have extreme anxiety
- They sleep more than normal, or on the contrary, they hardly sleep.
- They have access to weapons or tools that could be used to kill themselves, such as certain drugs in specific doses.
- They change their mood quickly
- They take life lightly and abuse substances, drive recklessly, or perform extreme activities without any protection.
- They talk about feeling trapped, hopeless, or as if they are a burden to others.
- They have very emotional episodes that contrast with a later suspicious calm.
Be careful: not all of this leads to suicide, but they are indisputable signs that something is definitely not right.
What do I do if I know someone in this situation?
First, don’t assume that because a person has these symptoms they will commit suicide, but don’t take this lightly either. If someone has serious symptoms, it is best to ask them how they feel and be there if they need you to listen to them. The rest only depends on them.
Suicide prevention specialists have pointed out that using the term “committing a suicide” contributes to stigmatizing the act and prevents people from seeking help, since “committing” is a word associated with crime. Suicide is not a crime. Instead, it is advisable to “die by suicide.”