How Can We Help Prevent Suicide?

Suicide is a pressing but preventable problem in the United States. Learn what experts are doing to help -- and how you can help too -- in this episode of BrainStuff, based on this article: https://health.howstuffworks.com/mental-health/mental-disorders/us-needs-to-have-ongoing-conversation-about-suicide.htm

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
Welcome to brain Stuff, a production of I Heart Radio.
Hey brain Stuff, Lauren Bogelbaum here. Today's episode discusses suicide
and suicide prevention in the United States. If those aren't
topics that you're up for hearing about, go ahead and
skip this one, and hey, take care of yourself, okay.

(00:22):
Here in the United States, discussion around mental health, self harm,
and death hasn't always been a discussion as much as
a whisper or a glance away, but experts say it's
well past time to recognize that suicide in America is
both serious and solvable. For the article this episode is
based on How Stuff Works. Spoke with Jennifer Paine, the

(00:43):
director of the Women's Mood Disorders Center and an associate
professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Johns Hopkins Medicine
in Baltimore. She said, I think we need to be
having a national conversation. How stuff Works. Also spoke by
email with Deb Stone, a behavioral scientist in the Center
for Disease Control and Prevention or c d c S
Division of Violence Prevention and the lead author on a

(01:06):
sobering study on suicide. She said, suicide prevention requires a
comprehensive approach that addresses risk and protective factors at multiple levels,
including societal, community relationship, and individual levels. There's a role
for everyone in the community. The CDC's latest findings illuminate

(01:27):
the scope of the issue. Among the facts, the American
suicide rate increased thirty three between and twenty nineteen. More
than forty seven thousand, five hundred Americans died by suicide
in twenty nineteen, which is about one death every eleven minutes.
Another one point four million Americans attempted suicide. It's the

(01:47):
tenth leading cause of death in the United States and
the second leading cause of death for people ages ten
to thirty four. Mental health officials are quick to ask
the media to avoid using sensationalistic wording like skyrocketing or
epidemic to characterize the rise in suicides. Still, suicide is
a clear, serious, growing public health issue, and facing that

(02:11):
might be the first step in combating it. But facing
it means acknowledging something else too. Though researchers found that
more than half of those who die by suicide don't
have a diagnosed mental health condition, mental illness remains a
huge factor in this cause of death. It's not the
only factor, but it's an important one that needs to

(02:31):
be addressed. Pain from Johns, Hopkins said, I think there's
a stigma associated with psychiatric illness that really needs to
go away. It's one of the most common illnesses that
people have. People are reluctant to get treatment and seek
out care partially because of that stigma. If we got
rid of the stigma associated with psychiatric illness, then I

(02:51):
think that would result in people getting better mental health
treatment and hopefully a lowering of the suicide rate. In addition,
and the CDC points to a variety of other possible
factors in the rising rates of suicide, including relationship problems
or loss of a loved one, substance misuse, physical health problems,
money woes, and employment stress. The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline

(03:15):
lists warning signs that may signal a person might be
contemplating suicide. They include talking about wanting to die or
kill themselves, looking for a way to kill themselves like
searching online or buying a gun, talking about feeling hopeless
or having no reason to live, talking about feeling trapped
or being in unbearable pain, talking about being a burden

(03:36):
to others. Increasing the use of alcohol or drugs, acting
anxious or agitated, behaving recklessly, sleeping too little or too much,
withdrawing or isolating themselves, showing rage or talking about seeking revenge,
and extreme mood swings. If you know someone exhibiting any
of those signs, experts say it's best to approach the

(03:58):
situation head on. Stone from the CDC said, one of
the simplest ways to determine this is to ask directly,
are you thinking about suicide? Asking the question won't put
the thought on someone's head who wasn't previously thinking about suicide,
and it can be a relief for the person to
open up about their struggles. Pain said, what you don't

(04:18):
want to do is play that don't ask, don't tell game.
You're not going to regret getting someone the appropriate care.
I think that if you really care about someone and
you're really concerned, then you do everything that you can
to get them to treatment, including insisting on it. On
a macro level. Slowing the rate of suicides falls largely
on the public health agencies, but they can't turn the tidle.

(04:41):
Loon In Stone and fellow scientists with the CDC released
a document called Preventing suicide a technical package of policy,
programs and practices. In it, they explain other sectors vital
to implementing this package include, but are not limited to, education, government, local, state,
and federal social services, health services, business, labor, justice, housing, media,

(05:05):
and organizations that comprise the civil society sector, such as
faith based organizations, youth serving organizations, foundations, and other non
governmental organizations. Collectively, these sectors can make a difference in
preventing suicide by impacting the various contexts and underlying risks
the contribute to suicide. The CDC Understones Technical Package has

(05:28):
instituted a seven steps strategy to help the different sectors
build programs to prevent suicide, including strengthening economic supports, strengthening
access and delivery of suicide care, creating protective environments, promoting connectedness, teaching,
coping and problem solving skills, identifying and supporting people at risk,
and lessening harms and preventing future risk. In the end,

(05:52):
solving such a complex public health issue will demand a
lot of work from a lot of people, and all
of them will have to be stubborn, unwilling to simply
glance away. If you are someone you know is having
thoughts about suicide in the United States. You can call
the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at eight hundred to seven
three talk that's eight hundred to seven three eight to five,

(06:16):
or you can google for resources in your area. Today's
episode is based on the article the US needs to
have an Ongoing Conversation about suicide on how stuffworks dot com,
written by John Donovan. Brain Stuff is production of by
Heart Radio in partnership with how stuff works dot com,
and it is produced by Tyler Plain. Four. More podcasts

(06:37):
from my heart Radio visit the i heart Radio app,
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