Show Psychological First Aid for suicidal tendency Ity By Leonard J Young 1 1 Listen The first thing a person in the throes of oC a mental crisis needs is someone who will listen and really hear what he is saying An effort should be made to really understand the feelings being expressed behind the words 2 Evaluate the lethality or seriousness of oC feelings of the person 3 Evaluate the intensity or severity of oC the emotional disturbance 4 Evaluate the resources available The individual will have both inner psychological resources such as various mechanisms for Cor rationalization and intellectualization which can be strengthened and supported supported supported sup sup- ported and the individual can have outer resources that is the resources in his environment environment environment en en- such as ministers relatives and other people w whom om one can can call in 5 Take every complaint and tooling feeling the person expresses seriously Do not dismiss or undervalue under what he is saying In some instances the difficulty will be presented in a low key so to speak but behind it will be bevery bevery bevery very profound and serious distressed feelings 6 Act deCini definitively lively Do something tangible that is give the person something concrete e to hang onto such as arranging for Cor him to see someone else or whatever seems appropriate Nothing is ismore ismore ismore more frustrating than for Cor the person to leave you and feel e l as though he has received nothing from Crom the relationship 7 Be affirmative perhaps even authoritarian yet sup sup- sup sup- Strong stable guideposts are re extremely necessary in the the i life M a distressed distress d t individual divid l r mth r th words provide him with some strength by giving him the impression that you know what you are doing and that you intend to do everything you cart carl carlto to prevent him from taking his life 8 G. Do not be afraid to ask directly if the individual has entertained thoughts of suicide Experience shows that harm is rarely done by inquiring directly into such thoughts As a matter of oC fact the individual frequently welcomes it and is glad the chosen person enabled him to open up and bring It 11 out 9 If the individual does admit seriously entertaining such thoughts and then intends to b be euphemistic about it and say heis he heis heis is all right do not be misled by this Frequently on second thought the individual attempts attempts attempts at at- tempts to cover it up but the thinking will come back later 10 Do not be afraid to ask for Cor assistance and consultation Call in whoever is necessary depending upon the severity o of the case eg e.g. the doctor school psychologist social worker or whoever may be in a position to render assistance immediately Do not try to handle everything yourself but convey an altitude attitude of oC firmness and composure to the person so that he will feel Ceel something realistic and appropriate appropriate appropriate ap ap- is being done to help him m. m FACTS F ON SUICIDE Approximately people kill themselves each year in the US U.S. but it is believed believE the true figure is perhaps twice that and nine times this number of people attempt suicide Suicide is among the first ten tun causes of oC death in 23 of oC 50 states it ranks as high as sixth in Nevada Suicide ranks tenth as a leading cause of oC death among adults in the US U.S. Suicide ranks third among college students and fourth among the 35 15 age group Most 1 people who kill themselves themselves themselves them them- selves in the US U.S. are native i born Caucasian males in the 45 00 no age group Suicide is represented among all levels of oC society Most suicides occur within about three months month following the beginning of oC improvement of a prior crisis when the individual individual individual in in- has the energy to put his morbid thoughts and feelings Into effect Most people in the US U.S. kill themselves this is especially true of men who tend to use more violent means most women use sleeping pills There is no other kind of death which leaves behind such long lasting harmful mental health feelings distress shame guilt puzzlement and general disturbance Suicide is found Cound in both the very old and the very young above 90 and even below 10 years Next Routes to Suicide Prevention |