Sometimes stress and anxiety get over you at such a level that you may start getting extremely negative thoughts. These thoughts can impact your life and other people around you. Suicidal thoughts can be caused because of depression, stress, trauma and pressure due to some condition. Suicidal ideation is a concept where you are preoccupied with idea of suicide. People that have this condition of thinking about suicide in majority of their time and therefore they may act suicidal as well. Suicide is the most extreme step that is taken by any person or student to get rid of the challenges and pressure of regular life. Today we will discuss about tips to manage suicidal ideation and risk factors associated with it.
Signs of Suicidal Ideation
We spoke to Dr. Tanu Chowdhury, Clinical Psychologist from Healthcare Clinic, Lucknow about the process and signs of suicidal ideation. She told that suicidal ideation does not particularly mean to commit suicide but to think about it for most period of the day. People think about the process of committing suicide and imagine themselves in such situations. This is a very negative thought process which leads the person into depression and makes them suicidal. You must know the signs of suicidal ideation in order to manage of prevent it.
Symptoms
They are vocal about not being alive or putting conditions of not being born instead. People with suicidal ideation tell this in front of their family, friends and social circle.
- Avoiding social contact with people and trying to stay away maximum time
- Trying to prepare for suicide or acquiring methods that may lead to death.
- Trying to put their life of risk several times and indulging in highly risky situations which usually people might refrain from
- Consuming excessive amount of drugs and alcohol
- Showing signs of chronic anxiety and getting upset over small or minor things
- Giving away their prized possessions to people or treating them as if they won’t meet again
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Risk Factors of Suicidal Ideation
Sometimes you may not get it, but suicidal ideation may run in families. It is not hereditary but according to studies and psychologist, people who have seen suicide in their family are more likely to have suicidal ideation. People may also have this condition because of the following situations-
- Grieving for a long time
- Going through a traumatic situation
- Facing difficulty or challenges very often
- Because of depression
- Being alcoholic or having drug abuse
- Cases of mental disorder or stress conditions
- Due to chronic pain, terminal illness or medical conditions that may last for lifetime and have regular discomfort
- Attempt to suicide previously
Passive Suicidal Ideation
This is a condition where the person wants to commit suicide but does not have a specific plan for it. It is a dangerous condition because he might put himself in critical situations which might cause life-threatening complications. Passive suicidal ideation can involve fantasy about trying to commit suicide, or involves dying in a fatal accident.
Passive ideation is as problematic as usual condition. In fact passive ideation feels more dangerous as those imaginations can get people around them worried and stressed. This transition from passive to active may happen slowly but it could have complications at any time. Hence the person needs to be observed 24*7 in order to prevent him from committing suicide.
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Tips to Manage Suicidal Ideation
After knowing the signs of suicidal ideation in the person, you should prefer speaking and taking that person to doctor or medical counselor. Here are some tips given by psychologist to manage cases of suicidal ideation in people.
- Always keep a tract of situations and challenges faced by the person going through suicidal ideation
- Try to find out how stressed the person is and try to handle them politely
- Keep a journal in order to understand various feelings and emotions expressed by the person at different intervals
- Find some ways to relax the person and relieve their stress
- Take them to physical therapy sessions or involve them with in a physical activity with their friends
- Seek medical help if there are signs of suicide in person
- Be careful about signs of depression and chronic anxiety, mental health disorders.
- Try to interact with the person and have one to one conversation to understand the motive behind suicidal thoughts
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