Steps to help your patient avoid suicidal thoughts.
According to research, suicidal cases stand at 1.4% of mortality rate globally. Most people commit suicide due to psychiatric disorders, substance abuse psychosis, and depression. Trauma is also another main reason why most people commit suicide.
The rate of suicidal cases is higher among men in comparison to women. Overcoming suicide depends on the timely approach upon which experts try to intervene before the victims commit the act of suicide. Here are five steps that we have simplified to make it easy for you to help any patient with suicidal thoughts.
1. Help Your Patient to Walk Away from Dangerous Situations
Suicidal thoughts can be very rampant when he/she is in a lonely and dangerous place or having hazardous objects around. For instance, it can be easy for your patient to get suicidal thoughts while standing on high-level rooftops or at the balcony. He/she could also be vulnerable when he has a weapon such as a gun as it can trigger suicidal ideas. To minimise the risk of him committing suicide when in such situations, make sure you help your patient leave such a secluded area or keep off from harmful objects. It is very crucial that you advise your patient to stay away from dangerous objects. Also, encourage your patient to try and stick by his/her friends and family as it helps one to have a sense of belonging and see that there are people who care about them.
2. Tell Him/her to Take Deep Breaths
Breathing slowly and taking a deep breath in and out helps in lowering the heartbeat rate. Doing this allows more circulation of oxygenated blood to the brain. Advising your patient to take deep breaths enables him to shift his attention to different and more positive thoughts. By doing so, taking deep breaths can allow him/her to get back to normal thinking.
3. Ask Your Patient to Try and Stay Focused
There are different ideas that you can ask your client to pay attention to, which can help in eliminating the evil thoughts. He or her trying to focus his/her thoughts away from suicidal ideas and negativity can help in overcoming these ideas. For instance:
– Help Them Relax Their Muscles
Feelings can be overwhelming at times. What this means is that there are times when your patients will find themselves thinking negatively for no good reason. You help your patients to get rid of these negative feelings assisting them to relax their muscles. Some of the ways that you can do this are by gently massaging their shoulders, neck, and telling them to stretch out their hands. Advising them to start visiting the gym can also help them reduce anxiety and depression, which are factors that can increase suicidal thoughts. Also, tell them to be taking a glass of water after exercising as it can help them consolidate any thoughts that they might have.
– Ask Your Patients to Visualize Themselves in Better Situations
Your client imagining himself/herself in a calm and safe environment with someone they relate with allows them to be at ease. Calmness gives composure. Concurrently, people who believe in divine power rarely face depression.
– Tell Your Patients to Utilize Their Senses
To shift their focus from negative thoughts, your patients need to use their senses more. For instance, asking them to close and open their eyes can enable them to pay attention more to what they are feeling. Also, it leads to self-actualisation. Writing what they feel and paying attention to the soundscapes around them also helps in creating a revolutionary world.
4. Advise Your Patients to Reach Out
If the steps described above don’t help lessen the concentration of their suicidal thoughts, tell them to try and reach out. Even if they say that they don’t think the feelings are that serious, reaching out to others can help them reduce their intensity. Instead of isolating themselves, ask them to find people who care about them and let them know what is in their mind. Sharing with a close friend or relative can help them to get professional advice concerning what they are feeling.
Tell them not to hesitate to talk about their situation with persons of expertise in the field of psychology. Inform them about the different places that they can get information about the ways they can use to avoid depression for free.
5. Ask Your Patients to Believe in Themselves
The amount of time that it will for your patients to recover from negative thoughts and depression depends on how swift they will be in learning how to overcome them. Constantly reminding themselves that they can recover from lousy feelings is very critical as it enables them to change their attitude towards life. Ask them to remember that there are people who appreciate them since by doing that; they can boost their self-esteem. Tell them that they can overcome those suicidal thoughts, and all they need to do is believe in themselves.
Conclusion
Suicide remains a frequent cause of death around the globe, especially among the youth. It is a complex phenomenon based on diverse research to prevent suicidal cases. Medical practitioners should come up with approaches to curb suicide cases and ensure rapid interventions. Psychotherapy is among the best ways you can advise your patients to use to prevent and reduce any suicidal thoughts. Make sure that you are vigilant on teenagers as they tend to lose hope quickly, which can result in them being depressed to the point of committing suicide.
