The understanding of the dynamics of suicide play a critical role in helping troubled individuals in coping with ideation and behaviors that are likely to cause suicide. Any person should make a concerted effort to help people who are likely to commit suicide by offering diagnostic services. Assessment of a person’s behavior helps in mitigating the risks since the process entails an analysis of predominant evidence and a totality of circumstances presented.
A relative, the parent, colleagues, and significant others are advised to learn the way in which suicidal situations are intervened because this is equivalent to learning the first aid techniques given the fact it entails a matter of death and life. A number of theorists have attempted to explain some of the major causes of suicide in society. In the United Stated, it is claimed that suicide is the eight leading cause of death while the rate at which people commit it is approximated at 10.6 per a hundred-thousand people.
Again, suicide rates are more (31,484) as compared to homicides (17,732). In many cases, firearms are mostly employed in committing the acts of suicide. Emile Durkheim was of the view that women are likely to commit suicide as compared to men even though the latter are always four times successful (Teasdale, & Engberg, 2001).
Those committing suicide mostly suffer from mental illness or drug related disorders. Some of the risk factors of suicide include age, drug abuse, depression, impulsivity, poor coping skills, and relative depression or feelings of hopelessness (Simpson, & Tate, 2002).
Thomas Masaryk’s theory suggests that religion is the main basis of morality in any society implying that failure to follow spiritual ideals is likely to interfere with social organism, which leads to unhappiness, as well as an increase in social disorganization. On his part, Sigmund Freud observed that suicide is a result of accumulated violent behavior that leads to inward hostility.
Suicide and Moral Dilemma
Suicide, particularly assisted one, is a contemporary moral issue that elicits a heated debate on whether it should be legalized or made unlawful. Those in support of it are of the view that individuals have a moral right to choose what they can do with their lives provided it does not interfere with the rights and privileges of others in society. If living conditions are unfavorable to an individual, such a person has the right to terminate life.
For instance, an individual suffering from a painful disease, such as cancer, might not see the need of living given the fact life is meaningless (Silver, Kramer, Greenwald, & Weissman, 2001). Therefore, proponents of assisted suicide claim that such individuals should be helped in ending a miserable life honorably.
Some people have no capacity to enjoy their lives because diseases render them useless whereby they have to rely on others to perform basic human functions. Such conditions are degrading and helping an individual to end life is considered a moral responsibility. However, opponents suggest that the role of any human being is to protect and preserve life meaning any attempt to interfere with it is immoral.
Characteristics of People who Commit Suicide
Many factors make an individual to commit suicide, but some of the predisposing factors include unfavorable conditions such as homelessness, failure, mental disorders, drug dependence, and hopelessness. One of the main features of an individual who is likely to commit suicide is poor focus whereby an individual fails to reason rationally.
Rage is another characteristic that is mostly diagnosed in people who commit suicide. For such people, they tend to hate themselves for what is happening, as they feel humiliated (Rudd, Berman, Joiner, Nock, Silverman, Mandrusiak, Van-Orden, & Witte, 2006). For others, they think the society has abandoned them and the only remaining solution is to take away their lives. Studies show further that individuals who are likely to commit suicide will often lack concentration because of hopelessness.
Similarities between Suicide and Homicide
Suicide entails taking away of one’s life while homicide is the direct opposite meaning it pertains to killing other people. However, studies show that the two are closely related in the sense that they both involve the taking away of life through unnatural means. The factors that force an individual to kill him or herself are the same ones that might force him or her to take away the life of another person.
In this regard, scholars suggest that suicide is a form of inverted or retroflexed homicide because an individual who takes away his or her life is likely to do the same to other people if not controlled. In many cases, an individual will first commit homicide by killing other innocent people before moving on to commit suicide. In many families, parents would first kill children before proceeding to take off their lives.
The use of triage assessment form in addressing lethality
Triage assessment entails the immediate decisions that the counselor makes in addressing the lethality disorder before making referrals. The best form of triage assessment is ACT intervention whereby the patient is referred to one of the communal trauma treatment centers. This step is taken once it is ascertained that an individual poses a great danger to him or herself.
References
Rudd, M.D., Berman, A.L., Joiner, T.E., Nock, M.K., Silverman, M.M., Mandrusiak, M., Van-Orden, K., & Witte, T. (2006). Warning signs for suicide: Theory, research and clinical applications. Suicide and Life Threatening Behavior, 36(1), 255-262.
Silver, J.M., Kramer, R., Greenwald, S., Weissman, M. (2001). The association between head injuries and psychiatric disorders: findings from the New Haven NIMH Epidemiological Catchment Area Study. Brain Injury, 15(11), 935-945.
Simpson, G., & Tate, R. (2002). Suicidality after traumatic brain injury: demographic, injury and clinical correlates. Psychological Medicine, 32(3), 687-697.
Teasdale, T.W. & Engberg, A.W. (2001). Suicide after traumatic brain injury: A population study. The Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery, and Psychiatry, 71(4), 436-440.