While preventing suicide involves addressing all of these factors, the focus is often on reducing access to lethal means and identifying and connecting people at risk with help. It also involves teaching coping and problem-solving skills.
Many strategies have proven to reduce suicide risk, including CBT and DBT, individual psychodynamic psychotherapy and sleep disturbance and acute alcohol intake. However, they are limited by scalability.
Life skills
Life skills are abilities that allow us to cope with the challenges of everyday living. They can include coping with stress, emotional regulation, and resilience. These skills help people manage the difficulties of their lives and find meaning in them. They also enable people to develop a sense of purpose and connect with others.
A suicide is a tragedy that not only affects the person who commits it, but also their family and friends. This is why it is important to raise awareness and provide resources about suicide prevention.
A key element of suicide prevention is understanding warning signs and taking them seriously. These signs include depression, self-harm and vague references to suicide. It is also important to remove guns and other lethal means from homes, if possible. In addition, it is essential to create a safe environment where teens can openly talk about their feelings and seek help.
Resilience
Resilience is an important component of mental health. It enables individuals to cope with life’s difficulties and prevents them from falling into despair or giving up on their goals. It can also help people feel empowered and confident. People who are resilient tend to have strong relationships with family and friends, good coping skills, and a sense of purpose. They also have an understanding of internal control and a survivor mindset.
A study found that high resilience levels are associated with lower lifetime suicidality and current suicidal ideation and planning in the general population. This finding suggests that resilience may be an effective target for suicide prevention strategies. However, it is important to note that suicide is complex and many of the antecedents and consequences of resilience are still unknown (27). To better understand the concept of resilience and its relationship to suicide, researchers used Walker and Avant’s method of identifying defining attributes. This included examining the characteristics that are frequently mentioned in literature and comparing them to the seven defining attributes of suicide resilience: social support, coping abilities, emotional strength, psychological capital, meaning in life, and a sense of responsibility.
Supportive relationships
According to the Department of Defense, each suicide death affects at least six other people. Fortunately, there are protective factors that can help prevent suicide from taking hold. One of the most important is social connectedness.
Supportive relationships are those that foster trust, open communication and empathy while respecting individual boundaries. They meet emotional needs for attention, affection and care. In addition, they promote healthy coping and recovery from stressful life events.
Having supportive relationships in the home is especially important for adolescents. Fullerton says that adolescent suicide attempts are much lower for those who have positive home relationships with adults who show interest in them, whether it’s asking about their homework or where they are spending time after school.
Additionally, adolescent and adult peers can also provide emotional support through empathetic relationships formed at work, school and social gatherings like organizational days. The Army Suicide Prevention Leader Guide recommends that leaders at all levels use caring language to build meaningful relationships, prioritize mental health, and educate service members on available resources.
Community connectedness
Having healthy social relationships and feeling connected to a community can serve as a protective factor for people who are at risk of suicide. These connections can be as close as family and friends or as distant as neighbors or acquaintances. Everyday, there are opportunities to make a difference in someone’s life by showing kindness and compassion.
Community-wide initiatives, such as neighborhood clean-up days and festivals, can increase connection to others by encouraging participants to interact with one another. Service learning initiatives can also foster community connectedness by allowing individuals to work together on projects that address local needs and promote a sense of shared responsibility.
In addition to fostering a sense of belonging, community connectedness can help prevent suicide by increasing awareness of the warning signs of suicidal thoughts and feelings. It can also connect people to mental health resources and support, like the national suicide and crisis hotlines and state and local helplines.