Myths About Suicide

"More people in the general population die from suicide than homicide in North America. There are almost 11 suicide deaths each year for every 100,000 people living in the United States, and for every suicide, there are between 8 and 25 attempts" (Brent 4203). Based on this research, the great effect of suicide is displayed. According to dictionary.com, suicide can be defined as "the intentional taking of one's own life." Suicide is a major issue for all people, but it most obviously affects those ranging from ten to twenty-four. People need to understand the tremendous ramifications caused from suicide everyday; when people take their lives, others lose their loved ones. Suicide, one of the leading causes of death of numerous people each day, has reached a crisis point for adolescents and young adults, and it needs to be prevented.

Suicide is a severe community health matter which can have lifelong negative consequences on individuals, families, and the society. Reduce suicidal risk factors and increase protective measures are the main objective of suicide prevention. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) defined suicide as the “death caused by self-directed injurious behavior with intent to die as a result of the behavior; suicide attempt is “A non-fatal, self-directed, potentially injurious behavior with an intent to die as a result of the behavior; might not result in injury’; and suicidal ideation is “thinking about, considering, or planning suicide” (2015).

Suicide is intentionally causing your own death out of despair. It is considered a behavior and may result from a form of mental illness, but is not classified as a distinct psychiatric disorder. It can stem from different factors such as personal, social, financial or historical well-being. ("Mental health and wellness," 2013)

In order to discover the different facets of what ‘suicide’ is, it is imperative to first define what the word itself means. Tracing back to Latin, the word is derived from the words sui meaning “of oneself" and cida meaning “killer,” (FIND). Thus, as found in the dictionary, suicide is “the action of killing oneself intentionally,” (Oxford).

Suicide is the intentional taking of one's own life and sociologists over the years have tried to put forward various explanations for why someone may do this. Within sociology there are many different views on suicide on the causes and explanations for it, these come from two main methodologies which are Positivists who believe that sociology is a science and they should aim to make causal laws on suicide rates, compared to Interpretivists who believe that they should look for meaning behind occurrences and certain individuals experiences before the suicide. Other perspectives also put in their views on what they believe to explain

can't see the way out of the problem and think suicide is the only choice.

(2017). Preventing suicide: A technical package of policies, programs, and practices. Atlanta, GA: National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Retrieved from https://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/pdf/suicideTechnicalPackage.pdf

“Suicide affects us all. Every year, millions of Americans are directly affected by more than 37,000 suicides and hundreds of thousands of suicide attempts made by friends or loved ones. Yet, suicide is preventable” (Prevention Lifeline). “Suicide results in an estimated $34.6 billion in combined medical and work loss costs” (Suicide, 2012). In 2010, suicide was at the top of the list for the cause of death in the United States. In a 2010 survey, “12.8% of students reported that they made a plan about how they would attempt suicide during the 12 months preceding the survey; 7.8% of students reported that they had attempted suicide one or more times during the 12 months preceding the survey; and 2.4% of students reported that they had made a suicide attempt that resulted in an injury, poisoning, or an overdose that required medical attention. As for gender disparities, suicide among males is four times higher than among females and represents 79% of all U.S. suicides. Females are more likely than males to have had suicidal thoughts. Firearms are the most commonly used method of

People with a history of this behavior are 23 times more likely to end their lives, compare to those who don’t participate in such activities (Shaffer, D 1988). When a person attempt suicide unsuccessfully, in a desperate act to have others attention, is called a Suicidal Gesture. In this case, usually the individual use a non-lethal method to harm his/her self, that show clear signs of the attempt or make a potential lethal method with the knowledge or consideration that she/he will be rescued or prevented from dying.

The act of killing yourself, most often as a result of depression or other mental illness (Fox, 2013). In the United States, more than two percents of deaths are due to suicide. The highest rate is for men over the age of sixty nine, but is increasing everyday in young people of the ages fifteen to twenty four. One million people commit suicide worldwide annually, and ten million to twenty million people attempt suicide annually. There are roughly about thirty thousand people that kill themselves every year just in the United States. The actual number could be higher because some deaths are recorded as an accident, single car accident, or something that isn’t even recognized as a suicide. In men it is the eighth leading cause of death and in women it is the sixteenth leading cause of death. The higher frequency of completed suicides in males versus females is consistent across the life span. Teenage at the ages of fifteen to nineteen years old will commit suicide five as often as females their age. Men at the ages of twenty to twenty four years of age will commit suicide ten times more often as women. The rate for gay and lesbian individuals is much higher at them attempting suicide.

specializes in prevention health care. “Adolescence and old age are the times in life when suicide

The last definition given by the CDC is suicidal ideation which is referred to as thinking about committing suicide with or without a plan (CDC, 2015). Other members of this population include their family members and healthcare workers that work hard each and every day to make sure their holistic needs are met. In conjunction with these definitions mentioned above, many reasons why one would chose to commit suicide include problems with an intimate partner, financial issues, losing a job, and/or a previous diagnosis of a health problem. Once we understand who this population is and why they are vulnerable, it is important that we mention the methods that these individuals may resort to in order to end their life, so that there may be a chance to prevent them for causing harm to themselves. These methods are, but not limited to, gunshot wounds to areas on the body, predominantly the head and chest, overdosing on pain medication, suffocation, drowning, electrocution, and many other

If you see any of these sign in your child or someone you know, take action on it depending in how advance the situation is. The solution can be a talk up to psychological help.

     The three main things you can do when you have an inkling or know someone is considering suicide are: talk, listen, and look for warning signs. Asking a person and having them talk about how they feel greatly reduces their feelings of isolation and distress, which in turn greatly reduces the immediate risk of suicide. Some issues may never be completely resolved by talking or counseling, but a good counselor should be able to help a person deal with those issues constructively, and teach them better coping skills/better methods of dealing with problems in the future. Just being there for someone in their time of need shows them that someone does care, and sometimes that can make the difference.

Suicide is currently the 10th leading cause of death in the United States (Suicide and Self-Inflicted Injury, 2017). On average, 121 Americans complete suicide each day (CDC Fatal Injuries Report 2015, 2015). The American people are living longer with advances to medical care and technology, yet suicide rates continue to rise. According to the CDC, suicide rates have increased by 24% from the year 1999 to 2014 (Curtain, Warner & Hedegaard, 2016). Consequently, the suicide epidemic continues to grow with no clear path to prevention. This literature review was conducted using the Robert Morris University Library online databases. Databases accessed include PubMed…………., from the years 2000 to 2017. Overall, most the articles obtained are