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Developing a support system: if concerned about a friend…

Developing a support system: if concerned about a friend…. University Life Cafe. The challenge. People interact with a range of people on a daily basis. The interactions may be quite distant or quite close, and anywhere in between.

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Developing a support system: if concerned about a friend…

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  1. Developing a support system: if concerned about a friend… Developing a Support System University Life Cafe

  2. The challenge • People interact with a range of people on a daily basis. The interactions may be quite distant or quite close, and anywhere in between. • People may experience things in their lives that may cause trauma or difficulty that may send them into a spiral of depression and towards extreme ways of handling those issues. • Sometimes, people show signs or symptoms of their emotion distress. At other times, there are no indicators, and the first sign is often the actual suicide or suicide attempt. Developing a Support System

  3. The preventability of suicide…to a degree • Suicide is preventable with sufficient mental health supports and care, and the proper interventions. • Not every suicide is preventable though. Many people who are deeply depressed may not show signs or symptoms of their mental health. Those who would impulsively take their lives may not allow any practical intervention. Many who are hurting emotionally may not reach out to others, and their isolation may harm their ability to deal with their life crises. Developing a Support System

  4. Life stressors • What stresses people may differ depending on their backgrounds, personalities, attitudes, thinking, and circumstances. • What may be stressful for some may be exciting and challenging for others. Changing households, moving from one country to another, starting a degree program, winning a research grant, and starting or ending a romantic relationship, may all be reasons for stress or excitement. These may all test coping mechanisms. Developing a Support System

  5. A broad spectrum of potentialmotives for suicide • A sense of depression and hopelessness • Mental health challenges • Seeing “no way out” • Wanting to end difficult emotions or situations • An impulsive response to a trauma, with simultaneous access to a means of suicide • Difficulties in interpersonal relationships, social or personal isolation • The pressures from financial, health, personal, or other problems • Physical illnesses Developing a Support System

  6. A broad spectrum of potentialmotives for suicide (cont.) • Personal, emotional traumas (and sudden changes) • Part of an imitative contagion based on others’ behaviors • A history of family suicide attempts, • And others… Developing a Support System

  7. Suicide Risk periods • Late spring and early summer, and autumn • Major holidays that can bring stressors • Weekends (highest peak days on Sunday, lowest peak days on Fridays) • Birthdays Developing a Support System

  8. Types of relationships • A “shared reciprocity” is a relationship where people support each other without keeping an accounting sheet of inputs and outputs. Here, support is given unconditionally, with expectation of direct repayment, but with the expectation of mutual support. • A “balanced reciprocity” is a relationship where favors of traded, with common interests and understood pay-back. The relationships here are less personal. • A “negative reciprocity” is a one-sided relationship with one side giving as little as possible but trying to get the most that is possible. Developing a Support System

  9. A friend…. • Expresses care • Listens to the friend’s concerns • Supports a friend’s overall well-being • Respects friends’ boundaries • Takes seriously a friend’s expression of despair and suicide ideation • Wants a friend’s highest and best for him / her • Asks a friend to get professional help if he or she seems self-destructive or suicidal Developing a Support System

  10. A friend does not…. • Put himself or herself into physical danger to “help a friend” • Put himself or herself at dangerous emotional risks to “help a friend” • Try to offer professional mental health care without any professional training or background • Ignore “cries for help” in light of mental illness • Keep secrets (from professionals) about a friend who is showing signs and symptoms of possible suicide Developing a Support System

  11. Connection to counseling services • Counseling ServicesKansas State University232 English/Counseling Services BldgManhattan, KS 66506-6503785-532-6927counsel@k-state.edu Developing a Support System

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