Suicide is generally known as the act of taking one’s life. It’s a tragic reaction to life’s situation and it has become a common menace in society today. For this reason, a day (the 10th of September) has been assigned to create awareness about it.
According to the World Health Organization, more than 700,000 people die of suicide every year. Also, in teenagers from 15 to 19 years, suicide is the fourth most common type of death.
How to know if someone has suicidal behavior
It’s difficult to know if someone is having suicidal thoughts. However, there are some outward signs a person contemplating suicide may show.
Examples of them include:
• Constant mood swings.
• Withdrawal from social activities and being alone all the time.
• Finding ways to procure harmful tools like guns, snipers, or poisons.
• Writing wills or giving away personal belongings.
• Excessive consumption of alcohol and hard drugs.
• Changes in regular life patterns like sleeping and eating.
• Making statements like- “I wish I wasn’t born”; “I’m going to kill myself”; “this life is useless” and some other similar statements.
It’s important to learn suicidal warning signs as it may help save lives.
Causes of suicide/ risk factors
Different situations or factors that may incite suicidal thoughts are:
• Hopelessness or loneliness.
• Having a substance abuse concern or addiction.
• Overwhelming life events e.g. loss of a loved one, break up, academic, financial, or legal problems.
• Psychological disorders, mental health issues, depression, or bipolar disorder.
What to do if you’re experiencing any of the above signs
It’s possible to feel suicidal but not want to harm yourself. However, it’s important to find help before it becomes worse. Here are a few tips that would help.
- Firstly, you have to reach out to someone you know and trust. It can be a good friend of yours, or better still, your parents. Furthermore, it might be hard to talk about how you feel. But it is better.
- See a doctor or medical personnel. This is the most critical. It can be a mental health professional or a psychologist. Either way, they can be helpful in more ways than you can imagine.
- Contact the Nigerian Suicide Prevention. (NSP). They have a remarkable team of mental health services, psychologists, and doctors who can help your situation.
Someone once said that the major reason why people gasp to survive whenever they commit suicide is because they would rather not die, they just want to kill something inside of them (whatever is causing them problems or challenges). It’s important to know that no matter the life situation, suicide is never an option so seek help if you have to. At the end of the day, every hardship is a relief.
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