What Are The Top Warning Signs Of Suicide?

Not a lot of people realize that suicide is by far one of the top causes of death around the world. This is a terrible fact when you consider that a lot of suicides are preventable with the right knowledge and resources applied. It is a truly tragic situation. An important part of suicide prevention is recognizing the warning signs so here is a closer look.

Spotting the warning signs

People say they did not see it coming, but when or if you go through the warning signs with them they will notice some or even many. It is actually very rare for someone to commit suicide and there be absolutely no sign of it coming. The problem is people overlook things or discount things is unimportant when they are.

Someone is considered to be at a higher risk of trying to kill themselves if they show the following signs;

• Writing, talking or expressing in some other way thoughts about suicide and dying. It can be just on an occasional basis.
• Increasing how much alcohol they drink, smoking more, or doing other recreational drugs more often.
• Choosing and having a method of killing themselves, a gun, rope, pills or such.
• Showing behavior that includes withdrawing from people, spending a lot of time alone and avoiding social interaction.
• Another of the common warning signs of suicide is having strong mood swings for no reason you understand, though they might think it is valid.
• Showing changes in personality.
• Not being able to cope with the usual stress of life and being more anxious than they used to be.
• Spending too much time in various forms such as books, movies, and games, as well as conversations, on violence and death.
• Talking about being trapped whether in their personal life or at work or school and feeling hopeless.
• Changing their routine including oversleeping or not sleeping well, overeating or not eating well.
• Taking risks such as driving recklessly, drinking excessively, having unprotected sex, gambling or such.
• Saying goodbye as if they are leaving for good.
• Part of successful suicide prevention includes looking out for people preparing for their death, giving away possessions, writing a will, throwing out things and such.

It is always best to play it safe
If you have even a small concern or you see one or more warning signs of suicide in someone you know then you need to talk to them. You won’t give them the idea, you can't drive someone to do it just by having conversations with them. You can then learn if they are hurting themselves, thinking about suicide and such and see how you can help them. Get in touch with someone who can help, talk to an adult you trust if you are a peer of a teen, encourage them to seek professional help. Encourage them to be honest and open and be the same with them. You and they could also talk to someone on a crisis line or go online, they are free and open 24/7.