Discuss two common myths about suicide, including the truth regarding each myth.?
What will be an ideal response?
ANSWER:
?Misconception #1: People who talk of suicide will not kill themselves. Although most people who talk of suicide do not go on to attempt suicide, people who commit suicide typically have expressed their intentions at some time to family members or friends before their attempt (Ortega & Karch, 2010; Shneidman, 1987). They may have talked about “going away” or be preoccupied in general with the notion of death. Therefore, any talk of suicide should be taken seriously. A person who is suicidal should not be left alone. You may need to contact a mental health professional, call 911, or call a suicide crisis hotline in your area.
?
Misconception #2: If you ask someone who is depressed whether he or she has thoughts of suicide, it will only plant the idea of suicide in his or her head. Asking direct questions about a person’s plan for suicide is the only way to assess the person’s risk for committing suicide. Bringing up the subject can also give the person an opportunity to talk about his or her problem. People who have a concrete plan in mind for when or how they will end their life are more likely to attempt suicide than those whose plans are less specific (Nock et al., 2008; SAMHSA, 2009b).
?
Misconception #3: People who have unsuccessfully attempted suicide will not try again. In the United States from 2003 to 2007, among women aged 15–44 who committed suicide, 37% had a history of suicide attempts (Ortega & Karch, 2010). Similarly, among adolescents, a previous history of suicide attempts is the single best predictor of future suicide attempts and completions (Lewinsohn, Rohde, & Seeley, 1994; Miranda et al., 2014). Therefore, a previous suicide attempt puts adolescents and young adult and middle-aged women in particular at a higher risk for future suicide attempts.
?
Misconception #4: A better mood means the risk of suicide is gone. Suicide does not typically happen when a person is in the depths of a deep depression. Rather, suicide attempts are more likely to occur when people with depression have energy and can think more clearly and make decisions. This energy and clearer thinking make it appear to loved ones that the person is getting better and is therefore at a lower risk of suicide, when sometimes a better mood can indicate an increased risk of suicide.
?
Misconception #5: Only people who are depressed attempt suicide. Although suicidal thoughts are a symptom of depression and depressed people are 30 times more likely to commit suicide than are healthy individuals (Joiner, 2010), people with other serious mental health disorders, including bipolar disorder, substance-related disorders, dissociative disorders, borderline personality disorder, and schizophrenia, are also at risk for suicide (Foote et al., 2008; Nock et al., 2008; Soloff & Chiapetta, 2012). According to findings from the WHO World Mental Health Surveys, the strongest predictors of suicide attempts in developed countries are mood disorders; whereas in developing countries, they are substance use, PTSD, and impulse control disorders (Nock et al., 2009).
You might also like to view...
Promoting generalization through the use of multiple training examples that sample from the range of relevant stimulus situations and response variations is referred to as ____________ programming
a. higher order b. multiple case c. situational d. general case
When Amber's father picked her up from her preschool class on Wednesday, he was surprised to find that she had learned eight new words that day. According to Vygotsky's levels of analysis, Amber's increased vocabulary represents ____ development
a. ontogenetic b. sociohistorical c. phylogenetic d. microgenetic
One symptom of schizophrenia is called a word _____, in which a person's verbalizations are so jumbled that they are virtually impossible to understand
A) frenzy B) neologism C) clang D) salad
Cheyanna, a child-care provider, often wonders whether the shy children in her program will grow up to be shy adults. Cheyanna is interested in
a. physical development. c. personality development. b. cognitive development. d. social development.