My experience with suicide is really scary. I know that we have all regretted things in the past and that is a normal feeling. But with suicide it’s different because people kill themselves to escape the pain they are in emotionally, which means it’s not something that you can just forget about or fix like most other problems. I have known someone who has threatened suicide before, and it was very hard for me because I wanted to take action but didn’t know what to do. An important part of suicide is letting other people know that they are in danger. An example of how this is done would be calling 911 or going to the emergency room. This right there can probably save someone’s life, but people don’t do this because they don’t want to make a big deal out of it and they just get mad at other people because they feel like they are intruding on their privacy but it’s actually life-saving information.
Various assessments that I would use to determine whether or not a client is suicidal are:
The BEDS Test: The Behaviors, Emotional States, and Thoughts Scale is a five-item scale designed to screen for signs of suicidal ideations and potentially self-harming behaviors.
The WHO Mental Health Interview Schedule: This instrument consists of eighteen probable signs of completed or attempted suicide across three subdomains:
1. Personal history (e.g., past attempts),
2. Mental state (e.g., psychiatric symptoms), and
3. Social factors (e.g., interpersonal relationships)
4. Beliefs about the future/death (e.g., hopelessness).
The treatment for suicidal thoughts tends to be dependent on a particular situation. In situations where someone is in the hospital and suicidal thoughts are present, the hospitals will often have a psychiatric evaluation. This is done by checking for suicidal thoughts, depression and also any other risk factors that would arise. This can be anything from previous episodes to drug use to family history of mental illness.
If a person has never been hospitalized before or had any previous episodes, they can be sent home with appropriate follow-up care depending on their risk factors and length of stay at the hospital. The follow up care could be visits with a counselor once every two weeks, going to outpatient therapy sessions or taking medication if needed.
“Some empirical studies have further suggested that certain religious and/or spiritual beliefs, practices, and/or affiliations may be protective against suicide” (Amato et al., 2017). This study found that among individuals who had a lifelong affiliation with an organized religion, the rate of suicide was lower than among those who were never affiliated with a religious organization. For me, faith has been an important factor for my own mental health and well-being. There is something about my beliefs that gives me hope when I am struggling and helps me see beyond what is going on in the present moment.
Reference
Amato, J. J., Kayman, D. J., Lombardo, M., & Goldstein, M. F. (2017). Spirituality and religion: Neglected factors in preventing veteran suicide? Pastoral psychology, 66(2), 191-199.
