(Dilettant’s blog N1)

 

"Anyone can prevent the attempt of suicide if they see that their family member, friend or neighbor shows such thoughts and offers necessary support and help."

 

People were devastated by a wave teenage suicides, whereas, a case of Luka Siradze, 15-year-old boy was a real bombshell, as it was obvious, if not for the police pressure, he might still be alive . . .

 

I remember myself at that age – and – I was also on the verge of death and life, when I was 15.  

 

I clearly saw the moment, when I was a second away from jumping from the tenth floor of the building.

 

I‘m not going to take you to the long how-and-why-labyrinths – it’s not the case here.

 

The real case is not to make mistakes pushing our children, as well as, our close ones, relatives, friends of any age, to commit an irretrievable act.

 

I have found some materials on the Internet that I would like to translate and share with my friends and Facebook friends - it might be useful.

 

I'm not a psychologist, I'm a writer, and you can tell me that it's not my job, that I can find a lot on the Internet, but it's not right to share everything. I agree, but all I can do is supply you with specific, accurate and clear advice from professional foreign (mostly American and English) psychologists.

 

I will ask Jana Javakhishvili and Nana Agapishvili, cool psychologists and old friends of mine to have a look at these materials beforehand and advise me to publish them or not. They are fully immersed in their work, chronically busy, but I do know that they will do it for me (Jana is the president of the European Society for Traumatic Stress Research and host of "Dariapsychology" on Dario Radio channel and Nana is the director of "Georgian Association for Psychosocial Aid - NDOBA).

 

We shall refer to the publicly spread suicide myths, which will encourage us to think how we can help those with such thoughts . . .

 

The World Health Organization reports that about 800,000 people commit suicide each year. This is the second largest cause of death among young people aged 15 to 29 years, after car accidents.

 

Georgia holds 123rd place with 6.7 suicide facts per 100,000 people (as per WHO data for 2016, no official statistics have been published since). As Nana Agapishvili told me,  these statistics also include unsuccessful suicide attempts in developed Western countries, while the statistics of the third world countries include only the number of people who committed suicide, so these statistics do not reflect the proper picture.

 

So, what are the suicide myths?

 

Myth 1: Only people with mental disorders think about suicide.

 

Reality: Thinking about suicide means that the person is unhappy, though it's not a sign of mental disorder.

 

Vice versa, many people having mental disorder, does not necessarily show such mood.  

 

Myth 2: One cannot talk about suicide, because it can lead a person to take that step.

 

Reality: Instead, honest conversations on this topic might give a different perspective on life and give time to change one' s mind.

 

Suicide is perceived as a social stigma, so the person who has such thoughts often does not know with whom to talk.

 

Myth 3: If a person wants to commit suicide, not a single soul, not a thing is capable to stop it.  

 

Reality: Researches prove that suicide and its attempt can be prevented and it might be even quite easy.

 

The most important thing is to timely find out that a person is on the verge. If this is the case, we need to involve the person in the conversation to gain time and wait for this impulse to pass. However, it is also necessary to limit access to the means of suicide.

 

Myth 4: If a person has suicidal thoughts, it's for a lifetime.

 

Reality: That’s not true. As a rule, the risk of suicide appears in terms of certain lifetime condition or situation and does not really last long.   

 

From time to time, one can have suicidal thouts, but it doesn’t necessarily mean that it will be so forever. Maybe a person even attempted to commit suicide, but then he or she changed mind forever.

 

Myth 5: A person who has suicidal thoughts wants to die.

 

Reality: On the contrary: those who think about suicide are often under the influence of controversial mindsets. Someone can be driven to the first impulse and then regret it extremely.

 

This is why it is so important to provide emotional aid. And, also, it is also necessary to limit access to the means of suicide.

 

Myth 6: Number of suicides is sudden, without any particular, alarming signals.

 

Reality: In fact, majority of the suicide cases is preconditioned with alarming signals, reflecting in words or behavior.

 

There are also cases, when the fact of suicide is unexpected for the surrounding people, but here, we have to know how to identify the alarming symptoms (I shall talk about it more preciously in my next blogpost) and timely response.

 

Myth 7: A person talking about the suicide is not really capable of doing it.

 

Reality: Maybe by talking about suicide, people are seeking our help in their critical times.

 

Many who think about suicide suffer from anxiety, depression, helplessness and merely do not see a way out.

 

Myth 8: I have to be a psychiatrist or a doctor to prevent suicide.

 

Reality: Anyone can prevent the attempt of suicide, if one notices that a family member, a friend or a neighbor has such thoughts and offers him/her support and help.

 

Blogpost is sourced from BBC materials.   

 

P.S.

 

Over the last 1 year and 6 months, 596 citizens of Georgia committed suicide. These people were around us, but we did not feel their despair. If it was not for our indifference, they probably would still be alive today...

 

Let's look each other in the eyes, fellas!

 

Why am I discussing teenage suicides so late? It would make perfect sense if I published this blogpost immediately. That's what I was going to do, I laid out my thoughts, sketched a text, but then I refrained... I thought that if it became part of an emotional, almost hysterical public campaign, it would get less attention and have less effect... so I put it aside and forgot... A relative of mine recently told me that his daughter had taken two packs of sleeping pills... and then she told them what she had done... they called an ambulance and immediately saved her... It reminded me of that text... Unfortunately, the question of suicide remains eternal...

 

 

 

The project is supported by the Writers' House of Georgia.