Continual awareness is key to suicide prevention
-Mental Health-
If you know someone who may be at a higher risk of being affected, there are some signs to watch out for. Suicidal ideation can present in the form of talking about death more than usual, decreasing social contact, withdrawing from pleasurable activities and partaking in risky behavior.
There’s a lot of anxiety swirling around in the country. It’s not hard to see why; COVID is still the ever-present threat affecting jobs and businesses.
Schools are back in session, with some reverting to online only. Some parents have been forced to stay home while their children attend virtual school.
On top of all that, all of the negative stories circulating through media and social media sources are bound to add to one’s bleak outlook on life.
Sept. 6 - 12 is National Suicide Prevention Week and Sept. 10 is World Suicide Prevention Day. Awareness is extremely important in order to protect at-risk individuals, especially during these times. There have been several cases of people committing suicide due to the impact of current affairs; and that’s just the cases where there was a known motive.
With everything that’s going on, it’s not hard to see why anxiety, depression and suicide rates could be going up. According to a study conducted by Oxford Academic, the pandemic has shown to have adverse psychological effects on people. This includes increased anxiety, stress, depression and substance abuse amongst others. All of these are associated with a higher risk of suicidal behavior.
This is especially true for people who were already struggling with mental health issues pre-COVID. Another study done earlier in China looked at the response to COVID-19 in the general population. A staggering 53.8% of people ranked the impact of the virus as having a moderate to severe impact on their psychological well being.
Healthcare professionals, who are especially vulnerable, had a reported 50.4% rate of depression.
Some of the contributing factors to suicide include social isolation, fear of getting sick, economic difficulties and chronic stress.
As mentioned before, there’s also panic-inducing news and social media coverage that adds to this stress.
More general risk factors could also be tied to a traumatic situation, grief or substance abuse.
If you know someone who may be at a higher risk of being affected, there are some signs to watch out for. Suicidal ideation can present in the form of talking about death more than usual, decreasing social contact, withdrawing from pleasurable activities and partaking in risky behavior.
It’s crucial to take steps to mitigate these feelings if you feel you are at risk. Keeping a journal can be helpful as can finding ways to relieve stress. It’s also important to seek professional help as soon as you notice depressive symptoms.
Though the times might still be difficult, there is hope.
For more information on suicide prevention, go to suicidepreventionlifeline.org.