What Do You Know About Suicide?

True or False

1. People who talk about killing themselves rarely do.
2. The suicidal person is most often ambivalent about his/her desire to die.
3. Only depressed people kill themselves.
4. There is a high correlation between alcoholism and suicide.
5. Once a person has made a suicide attempt, she/he will always have these suicidal impulses.
6. Asking someone about his/her suicidal intention may only put the idea in his/her head.
7. Suicide is most common among the lower socioeconomic class.
8. Suicides happen without any warning.
9. Improvement during hospitalization means the danger of suicide is over for the patient.
10. Only psychiatric hospitals or a psychiatrist can prevent suicide.
11. The presence of a psychosis increases the likelihood of suicide.
12. A person with a history of suicide committed by a close family member is a higher suicide risk.
13. Suicidal people rarely seek medical attention, so it is difficult to identify them.
14. Most suicides in the U.S. are committed with a drug overdose.

Answers:

1. False. Most suicide victims have indicated their intentions.
2. True. Suicidal people are ambivalent and frequently call for help immediately following the attempt.
3. False. Although depression is often associated with suicidal feelings, not all people who kill themselves are obviously depressed; some are anxious, agitated, psychotic, organically impaired and wish to escape their life situation.
4. True. Alcohol and drugs tend to lower inhibitions and cloud judgment, thus contributing to potential for self-destruction.
5. False. Suicidal impulses come and go and vary in intensity.
6. False. Many studies have shown that open discussion never harms anyone but can only facilitate treatment.
7. False. Suicide is fairly equally distributed across the socioeconomic scale. Some recent studies have even shown that the higher one is on the socioeconomic scale, the more susceptible she/he is to suicide.
8. False. The warning is there, but often goes undetected.
9. False. The time immediately after discharge is crucial and may cause reactivation of impulses, particularly without appropriate support.
10. False. You can prevent suicide by being alert to the cues and knowing what to do.
11. True. A person in a psychotic state is at much higher risk.
12. True. This can increase one's potential to do the same.
13. False. More than 65 percent of all suicide victims seek medical attention within three months of the act. You can identify the high-risk patient.
14. False. Each year firearms account for about 12,000 suicides, making it the number one method among suicide victims.