Never ignore any post of
social media, which suggests suicidal ideation. It is a medical emergency.
Never take it lightly.
Not just on social media, if
someone calls you that I am feeling like committing suicide do not take it
lightly.
Most patients who commit
suicide successfully will talk to someone minutes before they commit suicide.
The commonest precipitating factor is that they are not been loved or cared by
the society.
A 16 year-old girl has
reportedly killed herself in Malaysia, after posting a poll on her Instagram
account asking followers if she should die or not, and 69% of responders voting
that she should.
The girl, who has not been
named, posted the poll on the photo sharing app with the message: “Really
Important, Help Me Choose D/L”.
After most responders voted
for “death”, she killed herself. Her death prompted a lawyer to suggest
that those who voted for her to die could be guilty of abetting suicide.
In February, Instagram
announced that it will launch “sensitivity screens” to block images of
self-harm. The move followed the death of British teenager Molly Russell, whose
parents believe that she saw images of suicide and self-harm on the app before
she took her own life in 2017 at the age of 14.
Suicidal Ideation
- Intentional
self-injurious thoughts and behavior may be suicidal or non-suicidal
- Suicide is the
14th leading cause of death worldwide with the global suicide rate
being 12 per 100,000 individuals.
- In the US, suicide is the
10th leading cause of death with the suicide rate more than 15 per
100,000 individuals.
- Major risk factors for
suicide are psychiatric disorders, hopelessness and previous suicide
attempts or threats. Impulsive aggressive behavior is also a risk factor
for suicide.
- Suicide is influenced
by a combination of feelings we have about ourselves and our future
(internal affect) and feelings we have about others and the world around
us (external affect) including recent life experiences.
- High impulsive behavior
or alcohol/substance abuse increase the risk that suicidal impulses will
be carried out.
- Patients suspected to be
at risk for suicide should be asked about suicidal ideation and intent,
and, if present should be treated as an emergency
- WHO: 12-month prevalence
of suicidal ideation (thoughts) was around 2% and that the lifetime
prevalence was 9%.
- The probability of ever
making a plan to commit suicide is 33% among individuals with a lifetime
history of suicidal ideation; the likelihood of ever making a suicide
attempt is approximately 30% in such individuals.
- Among individuals with a
lifetime history of suicidal ideation and a plan, the probability of
attempting suicide was about 55%; among ideators without a plan, the
probability of attempting suicide was only 15%.
- About 60% of the
transitions from suicidal ideation to suicide plan, and from plan to
suicide attempt, occurred in the first year after onset of suicidal
ideation.
·
More than half of individuals with suicidal thoughts do
not receive mental health services.
Dr KK Aggarwal
Padma Shri Awardee
President Elect Confederation of
Medical Associations in Asia and Oceania
(CMAAO)
Group Editor-in-Chief IJCP Publications
President Heart Care Foundation of
India
Past National President
IMA
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