SUICIDE & ITS EARLY DETECTION

1. SUICIDE & ITS EARLY DETECTION M Habibur Rahman Khan

2. INTRODUCTION

3. Suicide is not a disease. It is an expression of a host of emotions, hopelessness, guilt, sorrow, loneliness, rage, fear and shame. Never suicide is an instant decision and execution. It is a long term effect of so many conditions. Paradoxically, the act often occurs at a point when the individual appears to be emerging from the deepest phase of the depressive attack. Adolescence with its myriad adjustment problems, is one of the peak danger periods. The suicidal impulse may develop in early or later adolescence between the ages of 14-18 years. This is the most difficult time for the young person to adjust to a new status and to a new social expectation.

4. AIM The aim of this lecture is to apprise you about suicide, its early detection along with its multifarious dimensions.

5. SCOPE ● Suicide ● Types of suicide ●Causes of suicide ●Risk factors of suicide ● Signs of suicidal intend ●Suicidal impact on others ●Measures to prevent suicide in training academy

6. TYPES OF SUICIDE Fatal : Attempted to suicide and completed it. More common in men (for unemployment, loneliness, withdrawn from relationship, deprivation of love, drug abuse & physical illness). Non-Fatal : Attempted to suicide but outcome is not death (Para-suicide). Those who do not actually complete suicide are believed to want to survive and to have made a suicide gesture for psychological ends (i.e. manipulation, a cry for help). More common in women under 25 (for acute personal crisis). Most suicidal acts are taken with ambivalent intention

7. CAUSES OF SUICIDE • Sociological • Changing family structure • Marital breakdown • Changing cultural values and religious practices • Unemployment • Drugs • Increased availability of methods of suicide • Psychological • Mental well being • Personality • Psychosocial • Biological • Genetics • Psychiatric illness • Physical illness Continue..

8. CAUSES OF SUICIDE PERSONALITY STRUCTURE PRIMITIVE & UNCONSCIOUS ID EXECUTIVE OF THE PERSONALITY OR MEDIATOR GOAL EGO IDEAL / LEARNED / MORAL SUPER EGO Continue..

9. CAUSES OF SUICIDE PSYCHOSOCIAL VIEW Continue..

10. CAUSES OF SUICIDE All suicides have three interrelated and unconscious dimensions : A wish to kill A wish to be killed A wish to die

11. RISK FACTORS OF SUICIDE Following are the best predictors of suicidal intent : • Hopelessness • Mental illness • Physical illness • Substance disorder (alcoholism or drug dependence) • Previous psychiatric history • Family psychiatric history • Previous suicide attempts • Broken homes • Social status

12. SIGNS OF SUICIDAL INTEND Signs may be of overt or covert and written or oral : • Statement of hopelessness or worthlessness • Preoccupation with death • Suicidal reference in drawing, poems or any written form • Change in eating and sleeping habits • Withdrawal from friends, family and regular activities • Violent actions, rebellious behavior or running away • Drug and alcohol use Continue..

13. SIGNS OF SUICIDAL INTEND • Unusual neglect of personal appearance • Marked personality changes, like persistent boredom, difficulty in concentrating or decline in quality of academic and professional work • Frequent complaints about physical symptoms often related to emotions, like stomachache, headache, fatigue etc. • Loss of interest in pleasurable activities • Not tolerating praise or rewards Continue..

14. SIGNS IN ADOLESCENCE An adolescent who is planning to commit suicide usually gives the following signs and symptoms : • Complain of being bad person or feeling “rotten inside” • Give verbal hints with statements such as, “I won’t be problem for you much longer”, “Nothing matters”, It’s no use”, “I won’t see you again” • Give away favorite possessions, clean his/her room, throw away important belongings etc. • Become suddenly cheerful after a period of depression • Have signs of psychosis (hallucinations of bizarre thoughts) • Have previous attempts • Serious depression and mood swing Continue..

15. SIGNS IN ADOLESCENCE • Loss of energy and motivation • Loss of interest in daily activities • Fatigue • Poor self-esteem with self reproach • Guilty feelings • A sense of helplessness and hopelessness • Expression of suicidal intent • Conduct disorder • Disruptive and unsupportive family background • Relationship conflict Continue..

16. SIGNS IN ADOLESCENCE • Poor coping skills • Psychiatric illness • The ready availability of lethal means to commit suicide • Recent bereavement • Chronic physical illness • Withdrawal and isolation • Friendliness • Feeling of not belonging • Embarrassment before peers

17. SUICIDAL IMPACT ON OTHERS Suicide has a devastating emotional impact on surviving family members and friends : • Makes others feels abandoned, helpless and rejected • A family member or friend may have the added burden of discovering the body of suicide victim • Parents often suffer exaggerated feelings of shame & guilt • Survivors may avoid talking to others about the person who died • Others may avoid the survivors • Highly publicized suicide-those of celebrities may cause vulnerable persons, especially teens, to kill themselves

18. PREVENTIVE MEASURES Training environment is one of the vulnerable factors to become depressed. The following steps can be taken by the officers/personnel related to training as a precaution to prevent suicide : • He/she should be educated enough regarding the sign and symptoms of the suicidal acts. • Need based assessment program can be arranged. • Counseling the individual cadet. • Be more alert when stressful situation occurs. • When cadets are terminated or relegated, due supervision should be given to them. Continue..

19. PREVENTIVE MEASURES • When cadets are lagging behind on any subject, special attention should be given to them. • When breaking any news to any cadet, somebody should accompany them. • Any emotional situation occurs, it should be handled maturely.

21. CONCLUSION Suicide in most cases, resulting from frustration, depression, overt or marked anger, or a rebellious act. It is often intended as a warning or revenge to parents or loved ones or authority (an expression of dissatisfaction or displeasure with existing unpleasant situation) Suicide is not a disease. It is an expression of a host of emotions, depression, frustration, hopelessness, guilt, sorrow, loneliness, rage, fear and shame. Never suicide is an instant decision and execution. It is a long term effect of so many conditions. Continue..

22. CONCLUSION Paradoxically, the act often occurs at a point when the individual appears to be emerging from the deepest phase of the depressive attack. Most people who are suicide-prone have long histories of gloominess, withdrawal, anxiety and other problems. They have suffered from personality sickness. Adolescence with its myriad adjustment problems, is one of the peak danger periods. The suicidal impulse may develop in early or later adolescence between the ages of 14-18 years. This is the most difficult time for the young person to adjust to a new status and to a new social expectation.

23. THANK YOU

24. Suicide Rates in the United States Suicide ranks as one of the top ten causes of death in the United States. People over the age of 75 have the highest suicide rates, apparently due to the debilitating effects of physical illness, loss of social roles, and untreated depression.