Helping someone who is suicidal, what the experts have to say

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Are you interested in helping someone who is suicidal? A person who feels suicidal may or may not ask for some assistance but this does not mean that they don’t want help. Many individuals who go through with suicide do not actually want death. All they want is for their hurt feelings to stop. Preventing suicide begins with the recognition f the warning signs in another person and taking these seriously. If you believe a family member or a friend is considering suicide, you may feel apprehension about this topic but speaking in an open manner about feelings or thoughts of suicide might actually cause a life to be saved.

What do the experts have to say?

There are estimates done by the World Health Organization that each year, one million individuals die due to suicide. It is not easy to understand what drives people to take their own lives especially if you are someone not in the grips of suicidal despair and depression. People in this state are in pain and many times, suicide is the option they take when they are unable to see any other option.

Blinded by feelings of isolation, hopelessness and self loathing, suicide is the route taken to attempt to escape unbearable suffering. A person who is suicidal is unable t see any other method of getting relieved other than through dying. On the other hand, no matter how much they want the pain they feel to stop. Many people in this state are still conflicted deeply about causing their own lives to end. Even if they can’t see one at the moment, they truly wish that there were alternatives to going through with this.

Many individuals who are suicidal give signs of warning about their intentions. In order for you to prevent this from happening is to be able to recognize these subtle signs and know how to deal with them when they come up. If you believe that a member of your family or a friend is going through something like this, play a role in the prevention of it by getting a psychologist or a doctor involved, showing that you care and pointing out other alternatives. Many signs of warning for this condition include talking about harming or killing themselves, writing a lot about death, talking about it or seeking things out that may be used to attempt suicide such as drugs or weapons. When a person has bipolar disorder, suicide in the family history, has made previous attempts, is alcohol dependent or depressed, these warning signs are even more dangerous.

If you come across someone who wants to kill themselves and need to deal with the suicidal feelings and thoughts of that person, let them know that they are not alone. At one point or another, most people have had thoughts of suicide. This does not mean that a person is flawed, weak or crazy. It also doesn’t mean that someone has a character defect. All it means is that someone is unable to cope with the pain they are feeling at the moment. With support and time, these problems can be overcome and the suicidal and painful feelings will eventually go away.