The inability to solve problems that push people to despair leads to suicide. Thousands of people end their lives every year because they cannot find solutions to their problems. While it is estimated that the number of suicides will exceed 1 million in 2030, experts draw attention to the importance of problem-solving skills.
Every year, September 10 is commemorated as World Suicide Prevention Day. According to World Health Organization data, 800 thousand people died by suicide in 2015. It is estimated that the number of suicides will exceed 1 million in 2030.
Üsküdar University NP Etiler Medical Center Psychiatry Specialist Asst. Assoc. Prof. Dr. Fatma Duygu Kaya Yertutanol made important evaluations about suicidal thoughts in people and its prevention.
People at risk of suicide should definitely get support
"The factors that trigger suicide are often present in the person in more than one way and intertwined with each other," Asst. Assoc. Prof. Fatma Duygu Yertutanol said:
"For example, an individual with clinically severe depression almost certainly also has traumatic experiences, impaired functioning, social-occupational and family problems. Therefore, people at risk of suicide should be treated with therapeutic approaches that address all these factors together or gradually. It is clear that people with suicidal ideation or attempts have difficulties in coping with problems. Somehow, the financial or psychological problems that have pushed the person to despair have gradually grown and intensified and have now exceeded the person's capacity. Since developing coping methods are skills that can be acquired in the long term and suicidal ideation is an issue that needs to be addressed urgently, I recommend that people should first seek professional help and consult mental health professionals for this purpose."
Take people who express suicidal thoughts seriously!
Assist. Assoc. Prof. Dr. Yertutanol said, "If we have a relative around us who says that they have a suicidal desire or intention, first of all, we need to take this situation seriously" and expressed his thoughts as follows:
"We know that most of the time, suicide-related discourses are ignored by those around us as insignificant or exaggerated. However, the presence of a desire to kill oneself for one reason or another is a situation that should always be taken seriously. It is a call for help and should be addressed urgently. Therefore, we should first tell the person who shares suicidal thoughts with us that this situation is important and that we care about it.
They are not asking for help because they are unhappy!
We see that people who have thoughts, intentions or plans to kill themselves do not seek help because they feel hopeless. However, these people need to know that their feelings of helplessness are temporary and treatable. They should remember that there are solutions even when they feel the most helpless. Therefore, 'seeking professional help' should be the first thing to do at this point. Professional help includes inpatient or outpatient treatment of the mental illness that triggers it, as well as interventions to be made to environmental factors that may also be triggering, in addition to the fastest elimination of suicidal desire and intention, which is the most urgent situation.
Check the person you suspect of suicide correctly
Contrary to popular belief, talking to a person about suicidal ideation does not make it easier for that person to commit suicide. Therefore, in order to find out the details of suicidal ideation, it is important to ask whether the suicidal ideation is just a wish or whether the person is planning to commit suicide. If the person says that he/she is making plans to commit suicide (e.g. buying a gun, researching about suicide on the internet, etc.), then it should be understood that the situation is much more urgent. In such a situation, professional help should be sought immediately. Until this is done, it is important that the person at risk of suicide is not left alone, and that medication, sharps and weapons, if any, are removed from the person's possession. However, this support should not lead to an overwhelming state of 'constant control'.
People at risk of suicide need the support of their relatives
The importance of social support in human life can never be ignored. People at risk of suicide need the support of their close environment more than ever. Interventions such as listening empathetically to the person's distress/problem, telling that person that he/she is important to you, realistically stating that seemingly insoluble problems are often temporary and solvable, and taking the person seriously will be effective. On the other hand, ignoring suicidal thoughts, getting angry, criticizing and/or arguing with the person, saying that suicide is bad/wrong, and giving advice will not work.
Many methods of coping with problems are learned
Methods of coping with problems vary from person to person. Some of these methods are healthy and mature coping methods and are more functional. However, unhealthy and immature coping methods are often not helpful in solving problems and may even aggravate them. We usually learn problem-solving methods from our environment throughout our lives. At this point, we first witness how our parents and/or other relatives solve problems in the family and adopt their methods. Apart from this, our own life experiences gradually lead to the change and shaping of our learned methods. Although it is obvious that we are born with certain abilities and skills, we can say that most of the methods used to cope with problems are acquired through learning. This skill can be acquired through long-term interventions such as psychotherapy and psychoeducation."