Inclined towards suicide or not?

Every year almost a million people die due to something that could have been prevented if only someone near him would have had a tiny hint about it. That something that could have been prevented is “suicidal tendency.”

The need to commit suicide exists mostly among the depressed. And the depressed exist in every 20 people on earth. That means, for every 20 people you walk on the streets with, take the train or watch movie with one will most probably be depressed. Depression can work in advantage to us. It drives us to do things better and make the world a better place. But there is a dark side to it. If it isn’t productive, it kills.

It is presumed that everyday more than 115 people commit suicide in the United States. More than 1.4% of the death worldwide is due to suicide. It’s definitely not the statistics that intimidates me, but it is the questions for which no one has the answers to. Questions like
“What if someone near to me has suicidal tendencies and I don’t know about it?”
“What if I could have saved a person’s life by spending a mere 15 minutes with him?”

These are the few reasons I believe almost all of us must know to assess a person at risk for suicide. It isn’t rocket science. So why not learn about them.

In order to remember the points to consider suspecting a person with suicidal tendencies, one can use one of the two ways. The first way you may use to remember the qualities of a suicidal is by remembering a small story about my friend "Nutty."

My friend, Nutty is usually a very positive person. Due to employment reasons, he relocated to a place where there were no coconuts available. He went into extreme depression and felt trapped in his problem of not being able to find coconuts. Having lost all hopes, he became a victim of substance abuse i.e. he started consuming increased amounts of alcohol. He started withdrawing himself from his family and friends. Additionally, he exhibited increased anger, reckless behaviour, mood changes and anxiety. All his friends, including me felt that he had lost a sense of purpose in his life. Nutty’s depression lead to the ideation of suicide but he eventually got out of it using the help of his doctor, family and friends. The above story depicts the qualities a person developing the idea of suicide might have.

Another way to remember the qualities of a suicidal is by using "THIS WAR MAP."
Where
T stands for Trapped
H for Hopelessness
I for Ideation (for suicide)
S for Substance abuse

W for Withdrawal
A stands for Anger
R for Recklessness

M for Mood changes
A for Anxiety
P for Purposelessness

While drafting this article I realised that I have 7 of the 10 qualities of a suicidal. (Laugh Out Loud).
That doesn’t mean I am suicidal. Trust me, I am not. What I mean to say is that the above mentioned criteria should be used only as a guideline to detect a suicidal and not as something to tag a person as suicidal. It is wise to remember that tagging a person with a psychiatric condition is like giving a garland to a monkey. You might want the monkey to wear the garland; instead it is most likely to tear it apart.

My advice is that if you guess someone might want to take their life intentionally, try making them feel better about themselves and their lives. After all we are here on earth to make some meaning out of our lives. Take care!