Suicide Awareness Seminar

1. Suicide AwarenessSeminar A Recovery Workshop Presented by the APSU Counseling & Testing Center

2. Myths about Suicide • Myth: A person who talks about suicide won’t really follow through. • FACT: Eight out of 10 people who commit suicide have spoken about their intent before killing themselves. • Myth: Only insane people commit suicide. • FACT:People who commit suicide may feel hopeless and depressed, but have not necessarily lost touch with reality. Suicide is 4 times more likely for depressed people.

3. Myths about Suicide (cont.) • Myth: Talking about suicide might prompt the person to act. • FACT: Discussing the subject openly shows that you take the person seriously and that you care. It’s helpful, not harmful. • Myth: Suicide is a problem among old people – not young people. • FACT: Suicide is a problem among the elderly. But the suicide rate among 15-24-year-olds has tripled in the past 30 years.

4. Myths about Suicide (cont.) • Myth: No one I know is the type to commit suicide. • FACT: Suicide occurs among young people of ALL types – rich and poor, athletic and non-athletic, popular and unpopular, etc.. • Myth: People who attempt suicide are just trying to get attention. • FACT: Possibly, but unless someone gives them some appropriate attention, the results could be fatal.

5. Myths about Suicide (cont.) • Myth: Once a person decides to commit suicide, nothing can stop that person. • FACT: On the contrary, most people want to be stopped from taking their lives. (But remember – not everyone can be stopped, though the effort of trying may save a life.) • Myth: People who attempt suicide really want to die. • FACT: Most people want to end their pain, not their lives. But they have given up hope that they or anyone else can help them.

6. A Serious Issue Every year, an estimated 700 men, women and children die by suicide in Tennessee. Nationally, one suicide occurs every 18 minutes, leading to 30,000 deaths per year.

7. Tennessee ranks 20th nationally for annual deaths by suicide. For every two victims of homicide in the U.S., there are three suicides. Over half of all suicides are adult men ages 25-65.

8. Depressive Emotional Factors Contributing to Suicide • Despair • Helplessness • Hopelessness • Worthlessness

9. Personal Protective Factors • Easy temperament. • Previous experience with self-mastery, problem solving, crisis resolution. • Optimistic outlook. • Social/emotional competence. • High self esteem, self worth.

10. Personal Protective Factors (cont’d) • Decision making, problem solving skills. • Sense of personal control, self efficacy. • Sense of belonging to a group and/or organization. • High and realistic expectations. • High spiritual resiliency.

11. Environmental Protective Factors • Strong family relationships. • Models of healthy coping. • Encouragement of participation. • Opportunities to make significant contributions.

12. Environmental Protective Factors (cont’d) • Available social supports. • Available helping resources. • Healthy spiritual/religious affiliation. • Cultural and religious beliefs against suicide and in support of self-preservation.

13. What can we do?

14. Grief Grief is a process involving a complex set of emotions associated with a significant loss or the threat of such a loss.

15. Stages of Grief Process • Numbness and Denial • Yearning • Disorganization and Despair • Reorganization

16. Numbness and Denial • Numbness is relatively transient. It is initiated by an emotional shock. • Denial of the full realities of loss, on the other hand, tend to persist into other phases of grieving.

17. Questions?