Suicide (cont.)
What are the effects of suicide?
The effects of suicidal behavior or completed suicide on friends and family
members are often devastating. Individuals who lose a loved one from suicide (suicide survivors) are
more at risk for becoming preoccupied with the reason for the suicide while
wanting to deny or hide the cause of death, wondering if they could have
prevented it, feeling blamed for the problems that preceded the suicide, feeling
rejected by their loved one, and stigmatized by others. Survivors may experience a great range of conflicting
emotions about the deceased, feeling everything from intense sadness about the
loss, helpless to prevent it, longing for the person they lost, anger at the
deceased for taking their own life to relief if the suicide took place
after years of physical or mental illness in their loved one. This is quite
understandable given that the person they are grieving is at the same time the
victim and the perpetrator of the fatal act.
Individuals left behind by the suicide of a loved one
tend to experience complicated grief in reaction to that loss. Symptoms of grief that may be experienced by suicide survivors include
intense emotion and longings for the deceased, severely intrusive thoughts about
the lost loved one, extreme feelings of isolation and emptiness, avoiding doing
things that bring back memories of the departed, new or worsened sleeping
problems, and having no interest in activities that the sufferer used to enjoy.
What are some possible causes of suicide?
Life circumstances that may immediately precede someone committing suicide
include the time period of at least a week after discharge from a psychiatric
hospital or a sudden change in how the person appears to feel (for example, much worse
or much better). An example of a possible trigger (precipitant) for suicide is a
real or imagined loss, like the breakup of a romantic relationship, moving,
loss (especially if by suicide) of a friend, loss of freedom, or loss of other
privileges.
Firearms are by far the most common means by which people take their life,
accounting for nearly 60% of suicide deaths per year. Older people are more likely to kill themselves using a firearm
compared to younger people. Some individuals commit suicide by threatening police officers, sometimes even with
an unloaded gun or a fake weapon. That is commonly referred to as "suicide by
cop." Although firearms are the most common way people complete
suicide, trying to overdose on medication is the most common way people attempt
to kill themselves.
Next: What are the risk factors and protective factors for suicide? »
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