How to Prevent Suicide

Written by Michael G. Rayel, MD


A British weapon’s inspector was found dead inrepparttar woods after he slashed his wrist. Forrepparttar 130688 past few weeks, he was entangled with a controversy aboutrepparttar 130689 war in Iraq.

On Monday, a Hyundai executive leaped to his death fromrepparttar 130690 12th floor. He was on trial for allegedly paying off North Korea $100 million to agree to a 2000 summit between North and South Korea.

In both urban and rural areas, many more suicide cases do not go unnoticed. Through local papers andrepparttar 130691 town’s rumor mills, suicide becomes a sad tale and a mystery.

Why would people kill themselves?

Recent studies have shownrepparttar 130692 correlation between suicide and serotonin deficiency inrepparttar 130693 brain. Moreover,repparttar 130694 presence of significant stress has far-reaching consequences especially if such stressor, such as legal entanglements, results in profound hopelessness and depression. Frequently, when there is no immediate resolution torepparttar 130695 problem, suicide becomes an attractive escape.

It then becomes obvious that suicide is not only a medical disorder but a psychosocial issue. It is more than just a manifestation of emotional distress. It is a complication of an unresolved state of affairs.

There is no question that suicide is devastating to everyone. I have seen loved ones grapple withrepparttar 130696 pain ofrepparttar 130697 loss and shame associated withrepparttar 130698 manner of death. Pain and grief among relatives persist for months despite efforts to feel better though counseling and medication.

Can suicide then be prevented?

Suicide prevention is as much a science as it is an art. Although applying scientific psychotherapeutic techniques can be effective,repparttar 130699 gentle art of dealing withrepparttar 130700 suicidal person makes allrepparttar 130701 difference.

Having stated these, if clues of suicidal behavior can be recognized early and sources of stress addressed immediately, thenrepparttar 130702 risk of suicide can be reduced. The issue of early recognition and remedy therefore becomes crucial. The CARE approach can help loved ones cope.

What isrepparttar 130703 CARE Approach?

The CARE Approach is a practical four-step process that a person can use in dealing with a disorder such as suicidal behavior and depression. This approach emphasizes early recognition and intervention. The early process includesrepparttar 130704 following: 1) Check for signs of emotional illness 2) Anticipate complications 3) Remedy with early intervention and 4) Educate yourself aboutrepparttar 130705 illness.

Check for signs of emotional illness or distress

Suicide, like any medical disorder, does not happen instantly or “out ofrepparttar 130706 blue.” Usually, it is preceded by emotional turmoil such as depression, agitation, significant anxiety, impulsivity, feelings of hopelessness and helplessness.

Look for outward sign that shows deviation fromrepparttar 130707 person’s usual self. Observe any changes in functioning. Isrepparttar 130708 person less motivated to work? Doesrepparttar 130709 person prefer to stay in bed and withdraw from friends and family members? Check also for any physiologic changes such as inability to sleep, eat, and concentrate.

What's Your Definition of Fun?

Written by Susan Dunn, MA Clinical Psychology, The EQ Coach


“What you need to do is to have some fun,” a therapist friend of mine told me last month. I wasn’t there as his client, but I could be, if that sort of conversation continues. You see, I’d just had what I call “fun”, in visiting with him. He’s funny, he listens to me, he has interesting things to say,repparttar phone calls weren’t for me, no terrorists attacked, no child was sticking a bean up its nose, and there were no sirened-vehicles involved.

What elicitedrepparttar 130686 comment was my complaining (well we all have feet of clay), aboutrepparttar 130687 fact that my house hasn’t sold. I take exception to this sort of response – “go have some fun” – for three reasons: #1, my “having fun” is not going to help my house get sold, #2, who’s in charge of definingrepparttar 130688 word “fun”? #3, it implies I am not at that moment “having fun,” which, sadly, leaves me to suspect that my companion-of-the-moment is not.

YOU SAY ‘TOMATO’ I SAY ‘TOMATO’

It happened again last week. I had a nice long talk with a good friend onrepparttar 130689 phone, which I enjoyed tremendously, and then as we got ready to hang up, she changed her tone of voice completely and said, “And let’s get together and have some FUN.”

I chuckled to myself, with my warm tummy and feel-good feelings. I had just HAD fun.

Am Irepparttar 130690 only one so easily pleased?

SOMEONE ELSE’S IDEA OF FUN

“The dreaded ‘Let’s go have some fun’ statement,” I call it.

Please, please don’t drag me to a smoke-filled bar where everyone’s drunk, or force me to stand in line an hour to ride some 5-minute ride atrepparttar 130691 amusement park, or drive around a half hour looking for a parking place in 100 degree heat, to then walk 1 mile to get torepparttar 130692 Festival du Jour. These are not “fun” for me.

Having fun is an important part of any wellness regime and good life, but it’s been defined, I fear, by people other than myself. I hear this from clients as well, who’ve been told by their therapists and coaches to take a vacation, get a massage, go dancing, or go white-water rafting.

I think ofrepparttar 130693 person who told me, when I was a working single-parent with two boys expressing fatigue andrepparttar 130694 blahs, to go on a vacation, go have some fun. “All of you.”

Now, if you’ve been a single parent with two kids, you will know that while a family vacation is enjoyable, it is notrepparttar 130695 prescription for a tired, overwhelmed single working mother. Or are your kids and your family vacations different than mine?

One ofrepparttar 130696 last ones we took, I survived preparing forrepparttar 130697 trip andrepparttar 130698 usual travel hassles, made it torepparttar 130699 resort, dealt withrepparttar 130700 lost reservations whilerepparttar 130701 kids fought because they were tired and hungry, grubbed up some food when we foundrepparttar 130702 restaurant closed, then finally gotrepparttar 130703 boys settled, plopped down in a lounge chair byrepparttar 130704 pool and declared, “Letrepparttar 130705 vacation begin!”

Five minutes later,repparttar 130706 boys arrived, and one of them had a fish hook through his thumb. 5 hours of blood, sweat and tears later, more tired than I’d been before, I declared, a bit less sure this time, “Letrepparttar 130707 vacation begin?”

ARE WE HAVING FUN YET?

The other day my young friend Alberta invited me over. I work at home, and I’m sure it’s projection, but often someone will call me and say, “You need to get OUT. You need to have some FUN.” “Come on over,” she said. “We’ll have some FUN.”

So I went over to Alberta’s, for two hours of trying to talk around a screaming, nose-running, tantrum-throwing, stranger-hating two-year-old in a house that looked like a war zone and smelled like dirty diapers. I left a little early, not that it hadn’t been “fun.”

Just forrepparttar 130708 heck of it, I looked up “fun” inrepparttar 130709 dictionary, and now I seerepparttar 130710 problem. Here it is:

Fun:

1. What provides amusement or enjoyment; specifically: playful often boisterous action or speech 2.A mood for finding or making amusement 3. Violent or excited activity or argument (“let a snake loose inrepparttar 130711 classroom; thenrepparttar 130712 fun began”)

This is what I suspect and fear when most people tell me, “Let’s have some fun.” The snake loose inrepparttar 130713 classroom sort of thing. That is not my idea of “fun”. And now I see why things in offices gorepparttar 130714 way they do – someone considers “violent argument” to be “fun.” YIKES!!

Of course it depends upon what you’re leaving at home. A snake-in-a-classroom kind of experience could be preferable to say, a sick husband, a broken toilet, telemarketers onrepparttar 130715 phone, Jehovah’s witnesses atrepparttar 130716 door, news that Uncle Roy is coming to visit, two kids fighting, and a dog with diarrhea. Everything’s relative.

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