Volume 6 Issue 9 September, 2016
❌Mental Illnesses are the cause for suicide
✅Though mental illnesses are a major factor for suicide, it is not always associated with mental illness nor is suicide a mental illness by itself.
❌If a person often threatens to commit suicide for trivial problems, it can be safely ignored
✅Any communication regarding suicide, in whatever form, should never be ignored but assessed appropriately
❌A person who is scared of dying will not commit suicide
✅There is no evidence for this statement but in fact this may be risk factor by itself for a suicidal attempt
❌Talking openly about suicide with patients may stimulate them to commit the same
✅Discussing about suicidal ideations actually helps in better understanding of patient’s problems and also helps in preventing the same
❌Advising not to commit suicide and telling about the moral values and consequences would make patients revise their decisions to kill oneself
✅Helping patient to cope with the problem is the key rather than over-enthusiastic and premature advices or lectures during counseling. In fact this is better avoided as it may not be prudent but rather worsen the scenario.
