A person’s emotional factor plays a great role in his /her life. A person’s mental health is as important as physical health. From the time a person is born he/she experiences a lot of emotions throughout life. It is important to understand certain things along the journey called life.
Nothing is certain in life, things will eventually change. Yesterday you laughed, today you cried. Tomorrow you will laugh again, yet people fail to understand this! Self-harm and suicide are the most common things we see in the news and these are most common in teenagers, why? because they go through a cyclone of emotions before they become an adult. Some of the teenagers do not know how to handle stress, tension, depression, and state of sadness which leads to bad intentions/desperation. It is our duty to protect the ones we care about and that’s why the theme for this year’s mental health day is – Focus on suicide prevention!
There are certain signs you can look for if a person is having those intentions. There is a well-known tool from the American Association of Suicidology which can be used to check for intentions. The name of the tool is called “IS PATH WARM”. We will also be talking about these signs and also how to prevent any vulnerable person from getting into that stage:
Ideation
The person will have the idea of suicide in mind. He/she might not tell out loud, but you can check this by tracking their behaviour closely.
How to prevent: Avoid talking intensely about death or suicide with the person. Getting the idea is the first step in suicide, hence avoid that and stop the ideation from happening in the person’s mind. Seek counseling!
Substance abuse
The person will be addicted to drugs, alcohol, etc.
How to prevent: Make sure the person is not addicted to any harmful substances or does not tend to overdose, always keep an eye on them, and seek help!
Purposelessness
People will not have any purpose in life. They do not have any goals or ambitions and will not have an interest in anything.
How to prevent: Try creating a goal or ambition for the person. Motivation and appreciation will help the person gain a purpose in life.
Anxiety
The person will be worried about everything irrespective of how small or big the problem is.
How to prevent: You should make sure that you talk to them every day minimum for half an hour to make sure that nothing worries the person.
Trapped
The person will be having a feeling of being trapped. The person will feel like his/her life is monotonous and he/she is trapped inside it.
How to prevent: Take the person outside to new places and go on an adventure trip which will raise their spirit.
Hopelessness/Helplessness
The person will have a feeling of “no hope” or a feeling that nobody can help him/her.
How to prevent: Give the person your love and care. Nothing in this world will feel better than genuine love and care.
Withdrawal
The person will stop doing all the activities which kept him/her interested.
How to prevent: Help the person to start a new hobby. They might not want to go back to their old hobby. Give them ideas and motivate them to start a new hobby.
Anger
The person will exhibit anger.
How to prevent: Even for this point, love and care again play an important role.
Recklessness
The person will have no care towards anything.
How to prevent: Exhibit your love towards them and make them understand how much you care for them.
Mood changes
The person will have mood swings. They will be happy the first minute and end up crying later.
How to prevent: Talk to the person regularly. This will make them satisfied and reduce mood swings.
Other signs
Let us now look at various other things to look for:
- Agitation
- Risk-taking behaviour
- Violent and aggressive behaviour
- Suicidal thoughts coming out as words
- Sleeping too little or too much
- Exhausted most of the time
- Gaining or losing a lot of weight
- Changes in eating and sleeping pattern
- Contacting old friends and distant relatives suddenly
Keep your eyes, ears, and senses active all the time. It is important to note that more than anything, love, and care keeps a human stable and the same love and care can bring a person back from suicidal thoughts. For parents, it is important to always keep an eye on their teenage children. Parents should not be always in a strict and foul mood towards their teenage children. They should exhibit the behaviour of strict on one end and portray love and care at the other end.