Suicide: the Treacherous Trio that leads to it and how to recognize it
No one ever lacks a good reason for suicide. Cesare Pavese
Some Boring Stuff First: The Stats
The devil is in the details
Celebrities are dying virtually every week by suicide or some sort of self-inflicted disease process.
So for those of us who secretly wish to be one of them (the fame, the name and the riches), are shocked by how their lives end. No matter how they lived this is what everyone remembers them for.
What are we missing?
CDC’s headlines scream that the suicide rate is rising. When celebrities die one after another it would seem so. The statistics surely back it up:
16% of deaths are by suicide.
In some states, the rate increased by 30% between 1999 to 2016.
50% of the people who die by suicide do so in their first attempt.
The CDC goes on to add that mental illness is not the cause in 56% of the people who choose to kill themselves.
However, 2/3’s of the people who have depression do not know they have it.
So we can conclude that if not mental illness (recognized or not) then it is simply sadness that drives people to suicide, or we just miss to diagnose depression early enough.
The Treacherous Trio:
Suicide is a permanent solution to a temporary problem- Phil Donahue
There usually are 3 distinct reasons why one decides to end their life and actually follow through with it.
Before we get into that, lets first distinguish between depression and sadness.
Sadness is an emotion. It is usually triggered by an event that caused this emotion: especially a loss or what is perceived as a failure. Once the event is done or resolves this feeling of sadness also resolves.
Depression, on the other hand, may not have any triggers. The person feels sad about everything, or more so, they feel no joy. There is an associated loss of interest in the things they usually love to do. It may affect their activities, sleep, relationships, appetite and weight.
Even if an event triggered this episode of depression, a person will continue to feel hopeless long after the event has resolved.
Here is the common thread for both- they both need a lot of emotional support from near and dear ones.
They also need friends and families to be aware of any drastic changes in mood, including a sudden change to feeling happy and generous.
No: 1 of the trio, is mental illness a big part of this process?
It is not a mental illness it is a medical condition
One of the biggest challenges is actually to identify people who may be suffering from a mental illness.
The common conditions are mood disorders, particularly bipolar and major depressive disorder.
Major depression may be an event called Major Depressive Event (MDE). A lot of times there may be a trigger, like a break up, a loss or a perceived failure.
56.9% have suicidal ideations.
Bipolar can have the manic phase and depressive phase; the latter obviously can lead to a severe depressive cycle with suicidal ideation.
Most people who do go on to taking their life usually have severe depression or sadness or underlying depression.
So identifying a severe blow in life or a mood disorder becomes crucial.
No: 2 of the Trio, substances that drown your sorrow
You can get the monkey off your back, but the circus never leaves town. Anne Lamott
When mental illness begins early or coping skills are not honed well, people do turn to what we call self-medication to escape reality and their pain.
A common escape is simply alcohol. The occasional episodic drinking becomes a habit, then an obsession and then a disease.
Coupled with underlying depressive disorder or extreme sadness, this can be a dubious duo.
The alteration in the thought process can lead to a skewed reality and a disastrous end.
So people who have an issue with substance abuse of any kind including alcohol need special attention when they have a mood disorder.
It is unfortunately the time when we tend to desert them because they do become difficult or elusive. This is when they need to be seen by a professional, if possible even earlier.
No:3 that completes the treacherous trio
Bad news travels fast through the amygdala and the response to it is to withdraw or annihilate
It may be the loss of a spouse or a child or a close friend.
Whatever the event, the decision to end one’s life is due to an unreasonable thinking process.
A lot of people in times of deep trouble do think if life ended it would give relief, but it is almost a fantasy, an escape from the reality and they never go through with it.
When combined with severe mood disorder or sadness and substance use or abuse this is no longer a fantasy but an event.
The steps to take to help prevent suicide
All things are difficult before they are easy. Thomas Fuller
So to summarize the treacherous trio we have an underlying mood disorder with an underlying substance abuse and an acute or sudden personally devastating event that creates the perfect formula for someone to take their life.
We are the village and we are responsible for one another:
Identify your loved ones with a mood disorder and get help early.
If they do have a problem with substance use or abuse work on an intervention by getting to their pain.
Identify their emotional fragility and create a protective atmosphere so people feel listened to and supported, even though it may be difficult.
It takes a lot of love, observation and fortitude to prevent a suicide.
Understanding the process and having the willingness to help and just remember it takes a village for anything to change. We must all become the village for one another and break through the societal stigma surrounding mental illness by treating it as what it is- a medical need.
Be the advocate, be the support, create the village.
If you or someone you love is struggling, please get help with these resources:
https://suicidepreventionlifeline.org/
https://twitter.com/800273TALK
ibpf.org/resource/list-international-suicide-hotlines
Download our check list to get help with testing needed to identify mood disorders early especially to see if this is treatable with lifestyle changes and not simply by suppression with medications.
