Suicide prevention
[8] Contrary to popular misconceptions, talking with people about suicide does not plant the idea in their heads.
[17] There are various screening tools in the form of self-report questionnaires to help identify those at risk such as the Beck Hopelessness Scale and Is Path Warm?.
[18] There is however a high rate of false-positive identification and those deemed to be at risk should ideally have a follow-up clinical interview.
[28] The conservative estimate is that 10% of individuals with psychiatric disorders may have an undiagnosed medical condition causing their symptoms,[29] with some estimates stating that upwards of 50% may have an undiagnosed medical condition which, if not causing, is exacerbating their psychiatric symptoms.
It has been demonstrated that restricting lethal means can help reduce suicide rates, as delaying action until the desire to die has passed.
[42][43] A 2020 Cochrane review on means restrictions for jumping found tentative evidence of reductions in frequency.
[48] For those who decide to end their lives impulsively, a 24-hour waiting period for firearm access could substantially reduce suicide success rates.
[56] Crisis hotlines connect a person in distress to either a volunteer or staff member of an association that provides comfort and help.
[61] The typewritten form letters were brief – sometimes as short as two sentences – personally signed by the researcher, and expressed interest in the recipient without making any demands.
[61] The approach was partly inspired by Jerome Motto's experience of receiving letters during World War II from a young woman he had met before being deployed.
[62] Although the exact mechanisms have been debated, researchers generally think that the letters communicate a genuine interest and social connection that the recipients find helpful.
Coping planning is an intervention that is based in the strengths of patient for solving the problems or at least reducing and damping their impact.
By planning for coping, it supports people who are distressed and provides a sense of belongingness and resilience in treatment of illness.
[70] A good coping planning strategically reduces the inattentional blindness for a person while developing resilience and regulation strengths.
[66] According to researches, a proper diet, correct sleeping and physical exercise have a positive influence in the mood and the activity of the person.
[74] According to Healthdirect, the national health advice service in Australia, risk of depression may be reduced with a healthy diet "high in fruits, vegetables, nuts, and legumes; moderate amounts of poultry, eggs, and dairy products; and only occasional red meat".
[75] Consuming oily fish (e.g., salmon, perch, tuna, mackerel, sardines and herring) may also help as they contain omega-3 fats.
More information about food (e.g. oily fish with omega-3 fats, a class of PUFA), drink (e.g. water), healthy, balanced diet and mental health can be found on Healthdirect’s website.
[79] Foods containing vitamin B12 include meat, clams, liver, fish, poultry, eggs, and dairy products.
Common treatments may include antidepressants, antianxiety, antipsychotics, stimulants, mood stabilizers, and all kinds of SSRI medications.
Alongside medications, a health team often includes therapy and other beneficial resources to support good outcomes for individuals and their communities.
It is also important that, in a proportion of cases of use of drugs to prevent suicide, a "paradoxical reaction" can happen, consisting of an increase in suicidal intention,[87] mainly on the following occasions: the beginning of the period of taking the medication, any change of dose to adjust it, and the end of its intake period (its abandonment or discontinuation).
Therefore, a bigger caution is recommended at that times.Physical protection systems, such as barriers and anti-suicide nets, are sometimes installed in bridges, buildings and other dangerous points, to prevent suicides in them.
Sometimes, the problem is not a possible use of those points for suicide, but a simple lack of security in them that makes people to be involuntarily exposed to the danger of accident.
Recommendations around media reporting of suicide include not sensationalizing the event or attributing it to a single cause.
Bereavement is ruled out and promoted for catharsis and supporting their adaptive capacities before intervening depression and any psychiatric disorders.
Postvention is also provided to minimize the risk of imitative or copycat suicides, but there is a lack of evidence based standard protocol.
The general goal of the mental health practitioner is to decrease the likelihood of others identifying with the suicidal behavior of the deceased as a coping strategy in dealing with adversity.
In some contexts, suicide could be utilized as an extreme expression of liberty, as is exemplified by its usage as an expression of devout dissent towards perceived tyranny or injustice which occurred occasionally in cultures such as ancient Rome, medieval Japan, or today's Tibet Autonomous Region.
Many non-profit organizations exist, such as the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention in the United States, which serve as crisis hotlines; it has benefited from at least one crowd-sourced campaign.
