10 Misconceptions About Suicidal Behavior

Suicide is one of the main causes of unnatural death in Spain, and Europe is currently the region with the highest suicide rate in the world.

This is a public health problem that affects more people than we think, since many of them secretly experience suicidal ideation due to stigma linked to mental health problems, or they directly live in a context of discrimination or marginality, for which reason they carry their experiences in secret. This taboo that surrounds everything related to suicide facilitates the spread of erroneous beliefs about suicidal behavior, and in this article we will review the most common ones.

• Related article: "Suicidology: what it is, characteristics and objectives of this science"

10 Misconceptions About Suicidal Behavior (And Why They're Not True)

To learn more about the subject of suicide and understand the suffering that people who live in the first person go through this type of behaviors, then we will review the main erroneous beliefs that exist about the behavior suicide.

1. Harming yourself is the same as attempting suicide.

Self-injury is a relatively common self-injurious behavior in people who are going through periods of suffering or psychological disorders, such as generalized anxiety, the depressive phase of bipolar disorder, or mood crises in the context of borderline disorder personality.

People who engage in self-injurious behaviors do not have to intend to take their own life, but alleviate or lessen the emotional pain they feel through physical pain.

• You may be interested in: "Variables to understand self-harm in adolescents"

2. Trying to commit suicide without succeeding is a way of wanting to attract attention

Unsuccessful suicide attempts by a person are not always ways to ask for help from family and friends, far from it. Committing suicide is not an easy process, and many times it involves relatively complex actions, since the person who has been developing suicidal ideation tends to "try" a series of very specific steps to try to suffer as little possible; It is not worth any way to die.

People who go to this extreme of unsuccessfully trying to kill themselves do so because all their other life options, strategies or attempts to move forward have failed and only this one remains alternative.

3. All suicides are caused by depression

Although it is true that depression is one of the main causes of suicide in the world, there are many other causes that can trigger this fateful consequence.

Some other psychological alterations that can cause suicidal behaviors can be anxiety disorders, borderline personality disorder, complicated grief, psychotic breaks, and more.

In addition to that, suicidal behaviors can also be caused by cases of sexual abuse, affective disorder, family or domestic violence, and bullying at school or at work.

4. Suicides always have a mental disorder

There are a wide variety of variables that can facilitate the appearance of suicidal behavior; That is why suicide can affect anyone, whether or not they have a mental disorder, as long as some specific circumstances exist.

As indicated, there are many causes that can cause a suicide attempt and these can be related to mental disorders or to accidents, circumstances or vital phenomena exceptional than they do not have to result in a mental disorder that fits the diagnostic criteria of a psychopathology.

Some people experiencing mental disorders may have a support network sufficient to get by, while for the On the contrary, there are people who, without developing mental disorders, are not lucky enough to have these supports and end up developing behaviors suicidal.

• Related article: "Mental health: definition and characteristics according to psychology"

5. Talking about suicide encourages more people to attempt suicide

There are those who consider that we should not talk about suicide with a person who has the intention of doing so, or who, speaking openly about the subject in large media, series, movies and works of fiction in general we will encourage other people to do it.

The reality is completely different: often people with suicidal ideas have no one to talk to about it, due to the social taboo on suicide.

Talking openly about it with people who are attempting suicide, asking for their ideas, intentions or needs, we are not "catching" what has led someone to think about take one's life; Similarly, creating content that is disseminated by the media does not have the power to increase the suicide rate. if the subject is treated with sensitivity and a romanticized vision of this phenomenon is not offered.

6. Who wants to commit suicide never says it

According to scientific studies, A large part of people with suicidal intentions have verbalized them at some time to someone close to them before taking their own life..

In the vast majority of cases, the person with the intention of committing suicide clearly expresses it to their closest friends or relatives, it is because of This is why it is very important to always listen to them and be aware of them at all times, offering them our support and comprehension.

7. Suicide risk ends when the person feels better

Even if the person feels better or thinks they feel better, they should be cared for with close follow-up by mental health professionals.

often happens make the person appear more serene if you have definitely made the decision to take your own life, even if you suffer internally.

8. Suicide cannot be prevented

Suicides are multi-causal, so they can be prevented in many ways, from the closest support of family and friends to professional medical and psychological coverage.

In addition to that, suicide prevention campaigns are also very necessary on the part of public administrations and states, free access to health services and education and prevention campaigns by professionals in centers educational.

9. Those who commit suicide wanted to die

As indicated, those who commit or attempt suicide do not wish to die, but tend to have a ambivalent feeling: on the one hand, they want to stop living their life, but on the other they also want to keep living. In this sense, it is more accurate to consider that it is very difficult for them to continue living, for which reason suicide is seen as the only possible solution. The concept of death is still perceived as very negative in the vast majority of cases.

10. Medication is the best treatment for suicidal behavior

As with most serious psychological or mental disorders, in the long term an intervention pharmacological will not be as effective as a global psychotherapeutic approach, which intervenes on the causes of the discomfort.

Medication by itself does not eliminate suicidal behavior, it simply temporarily modifies a series of circuits neurons and neurotransmitters so that the person stops suffering intense discomfort for relatively short periods of time. brief.

• You may be interested in: "Types of psychoactive drugs: uses and side effects"

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