Get to Know the Facts
- There are one million approximate number of suicides worldwide each year.
- Every 40 seconds somebody dies by suicide.
- There has been a 60 per cent increase in worldwide suicide rates in the last 45 years.
- For every 20 failed suicide attempts there is one which is successful.
- Women are more likely than man to attempt suicide, while men are much more likely to succeed.
- The current average world suicide rate is 10.07 per 100,000 people.
These are the facts.
If your, or someone you know, is at risk, please continue reading.
We have compiled a short list (below) of resources that we hope will help to identify and provide a positive outcome to anyone currently going through a hard time.
Throughout the coming months we will be adding more information, topics and links for further reading.
Through education, public awareness and understanding, most suicides are preventable.
TOPIC LINKS:
Statistics
International Statistics
Already in this new century there have been more than 5 million suicide deaths worldwide. Each year approximately one million people in the world die by suicide. This toll is higher than the total number of world deaths each year from war and homicide combined. Suicide is an important public health problem in many countries, and is a leading cause of death amongst teenagers and young adults.
In addition, it is estimated that there are from 10-20 times as many suicide attempts as suicide deaths. These suicide attempts range in intent and medical severity from mild to very severe. At a personal level, all suicide attempts, regardless of the extent of injury, are indications of severe emotional distress, unhappiness and/or mental illness.
Suicide and suicide attempts have serious emotional consequences for families and friends. The burden of bereavement by suicide can have a profound and lasting emotional impact for family members. The families of those who make suicide attempts are often especially anxious and concerned about the risk of further suicidal behaviour, and about their responsibilities in trying to prevent further attempts.
There are also substantial economic costs associated with lives lost to suicide. These costs arise from the loss of economic potential due to lives lost to suicide, from the often devastating effects of symptoms of bereavement by suicide, from the medical and mental health costs associated with suicide attempts, and from the burden of family care for those who have made suicide attempts. Internationally, the annual economic cost of suicidal behaviour is estimated to be in the billions of dollars.
The scope of the problem:
- In the last 45 years, suicide rates have increased by 60 percent in some countries.
- Worldwide, suicide ranks among the three leading causes of death among those aged 15-44 years.
- In the year 2000, approximately one million people died of suicide. This represents a global mortality rate of 16 per 100,000 or one death every 40 seconds.
- For every suicide there are at least 20 suicide attempts.
- Self-inflicted injuries represented 1.8 percent of the global burden of disease in 1998 and are expected to increase to 2.4 percent in 2020.
- Suicide rates among young people have been increasing and they are currently the group at highest risk in one third of all countries (developed and developing).
- At least 100,000 adolescents die by suicide every year.
SOURCES: AFSP, ChartsBin.com & World Health Organisation
Depression
What is a depressive disorder?
Depression is a "whole-body" illness, involving your body, mood, and thoughts. It affects the way you eat and sleep, the way you feel about yourself, and the way you think about things. A depressive disorder is not the same as a passing blue mood. It is not a sign of personal weakness or a condition that can be willed or wished away. People with a depressive illness cannot merely "pull themselves together" and get better. Without treatment, symptoms can last for weeks, months, or years. Appropriate treatment, however, can help most people who suffer from depression.
The symptoms of depression may vary from person to person, and also depend on the severity of the depression. Depression causes changes in thinking, feeling, behavior, and physical well-being.
- Changes in Thinking: You may experience problems with concentration and decision making. Some people report difficulty with short term memory, forgetting things all the time. Negative thoughts and thinking are characteristic of depression. Pessimism, poor self-esteem, excessive guilt, and self-criticism are all common. Some people have self-destructive thoughts during a more serious depression.
- Changes in Feelings: You may feel sad for no reason at all. Some people report that they no longer enjoy activities that they once found pleasurable. You might lack motivation, and become more apathetic. You might feel "slowed down" and tired all the time. Sometimes irritability is a problem, and you may have more difficulty controlling your temper. In the extreme, depression is characterized by feelings of helplessness and hopelessness.
- Changes in Behavior: Changes in behavior during depression are reflective of the negative emotions being experienced. You might act more apathetic, because that's how you feel. Some people do not feel comfortable with other people, so social withdrawal is common. You may experience a dramatic change in appetite, either eating more or less. Because of the chronic sadness, excessive crying is common. Some people complain about everything, and act out their anger with temper outbursts. Sexual desire may disappear, resulting in lack of sexual activity. In the extreme, people may neglect their personal appearance, even neglecting basic hygiene. Needless to say, someone who is this depressed does not do very much, so work productivity and household responsibilities suffer. Some people even have trouble getting out of bed.
- Changes in Physical Well-being: We already talked about the negative emotional feelings experienced during depression, but these are coupled with negative physical emotions as well. Chronic fatigue, despite spending more time sleeping, is common. Some people can't sleep, or don't sleep soundly. These individuals lay awake for hours, or awaken many times during the night, and stare at the ceiling. Others sleep many hours, even most of the day, although they still feel tired. Many people lose their appetite, feel slowed down by depression, and complain of many aches and pains. Others are restless, and can't sit still.
Now imagine these symptoms lasting for weeks or even months. Imagine feeling this way almost all of the time. Depression is present if you experience many of these symptoms for atleast several weeks. Of course, it's not a good idea to diagnose yourself. If you think that you might be depressed, see a psychologist as soon as possible. A psychologist can assess whether you are depressed, or just under a lot of stress and feeling sad. Remember, depression is treatable. Instead of worrying about whether you are depressed, do something about it. Even if you don't feel like it right now.
SOURCE: PsychologyInfo.com
Self Harm
Understanding self-harm
Rates of self-harm in the UK have increased over the past decade and are amongst the highest in Europe. The Truth Hurts report found that rates of self-harm are highest among young people, with around 25,000 11-to-25-year-olds admitted to hospital each year after self-harming.
While self-cutting is the most common form of self-harm, perhaps affecting as many as one in 15 young people, it is not the only one. Truth Hurts describes self-harm as "a wide range of things that people do to themselves in a deliberate and usually hidden way, which are damaging".
Self-harm is often a way of coping with painful and difficult feelings and distress. Someone may harm themselves because they feel overwhelmed and don't know how else to deal with things. It's usually a very private issue and motivations and methods will differ from one person to another. Some forms of self-harm carry a serious risk, but this doesn't mean someone who self-harms is always intending to cause themselves serious injury.
Self-injury
Self-harm can take many different forms. Cutting is the most common form of self-injury, but others can include: burning; scalding; stabbing; banging heads and other body parts against walls; hair-pulling; biting; breaking bones; jumping from heights or in front of vehicles; and swallowing or inserting objects.
Self-poisoning is the term used for overdosing with a medicine or medicines or swallowing a poisonous substance. It may also be that someone self-harms by inhaling/sniffing harmful substances. The majority of people who attend Accident & Emergency (A&E) because of self-poisoning have taken over-the-counter medication. Others may overdose on medicines that have been prescribed by their doctor, such as antidepressants. A small number of people will take a large amount of an illegal drug or poison themselves with another substance.
The relationship between self-harm and suicide
Although people who self-harm are not usually trying to commit suicide, they could be at a higher risk of killing themselves, whether it's intentional or not. Research suggests that the intention to commit suicide is present in up to 15% of those who self-harm. Although it's wrong to presume that people who self-harm are trying to kill themselves, a small proportion of people who self-harm go on to take their life within two years.
"We would be more concerned about suicidal feelings if the person is saying 'I just don't want to live' and there is a real intention to end their life," says Frances McCann, a senior mental health practitioner. "There's a big difference between someone saying they self-harm when they feel angry and a young person saying that they can't go on any more and want to end everything."
People who are suicidal can be more likely to avoid asking for help and may even carry out final acts, such as writing a will, or choosing a violent means of self-harm that result in little chance of survival. The risk of suicide is also increased in people diagnosed with Manic depression (Bipolar disorder), severe depression or schizophrenia.
Could it be Borderline Personality Disorder? (BPD)
This is a condition that affects how a person thinks, feels and behaves. People with BPD can have mood swings and act impulsively in a way that could be damaging to them. Just because someone self-harms it doesn't mean that they have BPD - this is just one of the symptoms that may lead to a diagnosis of BPD, which is a very complex condition.
SOURCE: TheSite.org
Addiction
What is addiction?
Addiction is a catch-all term for a complex behavioral disorder. The most obvious symptom is that addicts reach a point where they cannot control their own actions. Even when they can see the harm, they continue the compulsive behavior. The inability to stop, more than any other attribute, marks addiction.
For this reason, addiction was first described as a failure of will power. We now know this is incorrect. Addiction is a real disease with psychological, genetic, and psychosocial aspects. It is not a character flaw or a failure of morality. There are actual changes that occur in the brains of addicts and treatments for addiction must address the biology behind the behavior.
A medical diagnosis of addiction depends on finding three or more of the following factors (within a 12-month period):
- Tolerance – Use is increased (amount or frequency) to obtain a similar effect.
- Withdrawal – Removing the substance or stopping the activity leads to physical or mental symptoms, such as tremor, seizure, or depression.
- The substance is taken over longer periods and in larger amounts than intended. This automatic ratcheting up of dosage is particularly obvious with drug addiction.
- A desire to stop and a lack of success in doing so. Short-term abstinence will be followed by use that quickly returns to pre-abstinence levels and above. Patients describe this as a loss of control.
- Time is spent in obtaining, using, or recovering from the effects of the addictive substance. The addiction begins to define the person’s schedule.
- Important activities are sacrificed because of the addiction. These can be work related, personal goals, recreational or social.
- Use is continued despite the knowledge that it is harmful, either physically, psychologically or socially.
While all addictions will exhibit some of these signs, substances and behaviors differ depending on the addiction. Most addicts will deny the extent of their problem, but at some point will admit (at least to themselves) that a problem exists.
Unfortunately, the label, “addict” is has become a powerfully negative and ugly stereotype. It is neither a character defect nor a moral weakness. Anyone can become an addict if they are exposed to the proper stimulus in the right context.
Addiction is a disease and treatments vary somewhat depending on the particular compulsion. For details about a specific addiction, refer to that page on this website.
SOURCE: MyAddiction.com
Bi-Polar
What is Bipolar Disorder?
One textbook definition describes bipolar disorder as a major affective disorder in which an individual alternates between states of deep depression and extreme elation. This is misleading in that bipolar disorder - also known as manic depression or manic-depressive illness - is much more complicated than just alternating between depression and elation.The American Psychiatric Association's Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (commonly known as the DSM-IV because it is in its fourth major edition) indicates that Bipolar Disorder is characterized by the occurrence of one or more manic or mixed episode often accompanied by depressive episodes. So even if you're depressed 99 percent of the time, going through just one manic episode qualifies you for a diagnosis of bipolar disorder according to this definition - but that still leaves out a lot of what manic depression really is.
So let's put it in terms everyone can understand. Bipolar disorder is an illness that affects thoughts, feelings, perceptions and behavior ... even how a person feels physically (known clinically as psychosomatic presentations). It's probably caused by electrical and chemical elements in the brain not functioning properly (see What Causes Bipolar Disorder? for more information), and is usually found in people whose families have a history of one or more mental illnesses. (While we're at it, let's be clear about something: a mental illness is one that affects the mind, not one that's all in the mind.)
Most often, a person with manic-depression experiences moods that shift from high to low and back again in varying degrees of severity. The two poles of bipolar disorder are mania and depression. This is the least complicated form of the illness.
Depression might be identified by:
- Refusing to get out of bed for days on end
- Sleeping much more than usual
- Being tired all the time but unable to sleep
- Having bouts of uncontrollable crying
- Becoming entirely uninterested in things you once enjoyed
- Paying no attention to daily responsibilities
- Feeling hopeless, helpless or worthless for a sustained period of time
- Becoming unable to make simple decisions
- Wanting to die
Mania might include:
- Feeling like you can do anything, even something unsafe or illegal
- Needing very little sleep, yet never feeling tired
- Dressing flamboyantly, spending money extravagantly, living recklessly
- Having increased sexual desires, perhaps even indulging in risky sexual behaviors
- Experiencing hallucinations or delusions
- Feeling filled with energy
Some people think that they are just "over their depression" when they become manic, and don't realize this exaggerated state is part of the illness - part of bipolar disorder. A person who has depression and mania is said to have Bipolar I.
In addition to Bipolar Disorder I, the American system of diagnosing this disorder also includes Bipolar Disorder II, which involves symptoms of hypomania instead of full-blown mania.
Hypomania - a less extreme form of manic episode - could include:
- Having utter confidence in yourself
- Being able to focus well on projects
- Feeling extra creative or innovative
- Being able to brush off problems that would paralyze you during depression
- Feeling "on top of the world" but without going over the top.
Hypomania does not include hallucinations or delusions, but a hypomanic person still might exhibit some reckless or inappropriate behavior. A person who has moods of depression and hypomania is said to have Bipolar II.
SOURCE: About.com
Personality Disorder
Introduction to Personality Disorders
Personality disorders are pervasive chronic psychological disorders, which can greatly affect a person's life. Having a personality disorder can negatively affect one's work, one's family, and one's social life. Personality disorders exists on a continuum so they can be mild to more severe in terms of how pervasive and to what extent a person exhibits the features of a particular personality disorder. While most people can live pretty normal lives with mild personality disorders (or more simply, personality traits), during times of increased stress or external pressures (work, family, a new relationship, etc.), the symptoms of the personality disorder will gain strength and begin to seriously interfere with their emotional and psychological functioning.
Those with a personality disorder possess several distinct psychological features including disturbances in self-image; ability to have successful interpersonal relationships; appropriateness of range of emotion, ways of perceiving themselves, others, and the world; and difficulty possessing proper impulse control. These disturbances come together to create a pervasive pattern of behavior and inner experience that is quite different from the norms of the individuals culture and that often tend to be expressed in behaviors that appear more dramatic than what society considers usual. Therefore, those with a personality disorder often experience conflicts with other people and vice-versa. There are ten different types of personality disorders that exist, which all have various emphases.
Read More at MentalHealth.net
SOURCE: MentalHealth.net
About Finding Help
If unsure where to go for help, talk to someone you trust who has experience in mental health—for example, a doctor, nurse, or social worker. Ask their advice on where to seek treatment. If there is a university nearby, its departments of psychiatry or psychology may offer private and/or sliding-scale fee clinic treatment options. Otherwise, check the Yellow Pages under "mental health," "health," "social services," "crisis intervention services," "hotlines," "hospitals," or "physicians" for phone numbers and addresses. In times of crisis, the emergency room doctor at a hospital may be able to provide temporary help for a mental health problem, and will be able to tell you where and how to get further help.
Listed below are the types of people and places that will make a referral to, or provide, diagnostic and treatment services.
- Family doctors
- Mental health specialists, such as psychiatrists, psychologists, social workers, or mental health counselors
- Health maintenance organizations
- Community mental health centers
- Hospital psychiatry departments and outpatient clinics
- University or medical school-affiliated programs
- State hospital outpatient clinics
- Social service agencies
- Private clinics and facilities
- Employee assistance programs
- Local medical and/or psychiatric societies
Local Phone Lines:
Lifeline - 13 11 14
Worldwide Hotlines - Suicide Hotlines
Additional Resources for Getting Information and Assistance:
- Locate Mental Health Services in Your Area
Within the Federal government, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) offers a Services Locator for mental health and substance abuse treatment programs and resources nationwide. - Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS)
CMS is the the federal agency responsible for administering the Medicare, Medicaid, State Children's Health Insurance (SCHIP) and several other programs that help people pay for health care. - Locate Affordable Healthcare in Your Area
Within the Federal Government, a bureau of the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) provides a Health Center Database for a nationwide directory of clinics to obtain low or no-cost healthcare. - Locate NIMH Clinical Trials currently seeking participants.
- Mental Health Information and Organizations from NLM's MedlinePlus (en Español)
- If You Are in a Crisis and Need Immediate Help
SOURCE: NIMH
