5 Important Tips for Suicide Prevention: What you must know

There may not be laid down rules about suicide prevention but from the causes of suicide, we can decipher what things we can do in order to prevent it. The tips for suicide prevention are some of the things one can undertake in day-to-day activities in order to reduce the chances of becoming suicidal. There are two sides to suicide prevention tips. One is in relation to the one who is feeling suicidal and the second is in relation to the person who is close to one who is suicidal. Both the individual who is feeling suicidal and the one close to a suicidal person have roles to play.

What is Suicide Prevention?

Suicide prevention refers to the steps that individuals or groups can take in order to decrease the rate of suicide cases and the chances of being suicidal. It could be seen as a series of efforts to reduce the risk of suicide. This involves strategies that can aid in preventing suicide. Suicide prevention is possible at all levels; the individual, the family, the society etc.

5 Important Tips for Suicide Prevention

When put into consideration, the tips below can be a great way to push depression and suicide far away from yourself. It is necessary to understand that there is a process that leads to depression and suicidal thoughts. If these can be recognized and avoided, then there are greater chances of preventing suicide.

#1 Build social and emotional intelligence

Intelligence in social and emotional life is paramount to the development of a healthy mindset and personality. Disbalance in any of these areas will eventually lead to a reduction of self-esteem, depression and eventually suicide. Social intelligence has to do with mastery of the associations we find ourselves in and control of the people we let into our lives and the effects they have in our lives. Man is a social being and must interact with other people. If he is to live properly, he must learn how to exercise his social qualities and how to accept other people and their concerns too.

Emotional intelligence has to do with an upgraded understanding of oneself that leads to acting consciously out of reasoning rather than reacting to situations without restraint. Emotional intelligence demands maturity from the individual in accepting responsibility, not denying feelings that are obviously present and facing reality as it is without wishful thinking or fantasizing. Both social intelligence and emotional intelligence will help the individual develop the capacity to repel suicidal thoughts and see meaning in life. Some people who want to commit suicide are doing it simply because they wish to run away from their conceived responsibilities. However, with social and emotional intelligence, this will no longer be the case.

#2 Do not bottle up yourself

Bottling up yourself in this situation entails revealing top personal secrets to other people who could use them against you. Most people tend to easily give out some of their secret information to other people once they feel that the other party can be trusted. However, when a problem arises in the relationship, the secrets have already been divulged and can be used against them. This keeps them uncomfortable and continuously in thought because they know that they have bottled themselves up.

It is better not to divulge whatever you consider a top-secret that could ruin your life when revealed. In this way, you are safe from all the possible occurrences that would take place if your secret is divulged. Most importantly, you enjoy peace of mind because you are not afraid that someone somewhere may be leaking your secret. Such thoughts continue to keep you insecure and will lead to suicidal thoughts when there is a problem between you and the person you consider your secret bearer.

#3 Reflect on positive aspects of life

One of the reasons that people become suicidal is because they focus on the negatives in their lives and forget the positives. This makes one see everything in life as sorrowful and not worth it. However, when you make it a priority to recount positive aspects of your life regularly, you will have a greater chance of preventing suicidal thoughts. One of the best ways to apply this is by putting it down into writing. You can take a jotter and write down the good things that have occurred in your life within the past few days, weeks, months or years.

Take the time to remember as much as you can and explain the details of each of the good things you consider as a blessing. Since writing is a psycho-neuro-motor activity, it will influence your thought pattern and make you see the light at the end of the tunnel. It is only with such positive practices as this that you will begin to see the light at the end of the tunnel even in difficult moments.

#4 Remember your place in society

Sometimes, people feel suicidal because they forget their place in society or they have a distorted view of their place in society. In order to avoid suicide and any form of depression, it is necessary to always call to mind your place in society. Everyone has a place in society. Starting from your position in the family, your place in school, your workplace, friendship circle etc. All these are places of relevance and whether you like it or not you have responsibilities towards others in these areas in as much as people have responsibilities towards you.

In the same way, your presence is an advantage to others because you share burdens together and help each other feel happy and productive. These are some of the things that are forgotten at the point of deciding to commit suicide. If you are able to remind yourself of your relevance to other people in society, then you will not think of yourself as useless and in return, you will prevent suicide and suicidal thoughts.

#5 Overcome depression without medication

Some people think that it is right to look for whatever means possible to deal with feelings of depression and lack of motivation. This is not true because over time it will become addictive and lead to worse stages of depression that will induce suicidal thoughts. It is important that you should learn how to overcome depression without medication so that you can begin to trust yourself and not trust drugs that are harmful to your immune system.

It is true that there are so many antidepressants available at different places but their availability does not mean we should use them as we like. The first thing is to recognize that your problems are beyond those temporary reliefs given by those medications. The short-term gratification and secretion of hormones like dopamine and serotonin do not guarantee a cessation of your problems. Medication in the treatment of depression is not a primary solution but a secondary one that is used side by side with counselling and other methods that thrive to heal from the roots.

Conclusion

5 important tips on suicide prevention have been discussed here. In future posts, the ways through which we can help a suicidal person will be written down in simple steps that can be followed. The tips given here may not be all-encompassing but they will go a long way to illumine the path of suicide prevention because they touch the several areas that present themselves through several years of experiencing massive accounts of suicide deaths. Suicide prevention tips are not to be cajoled as unnecessary and impossible but to be regarded and put into practice for the good of ourselves and those around us.