Poor Mental Healthcare can Increase Suicide Risk
September 2023 is National Suicide Prevention Month
When you struggle with a mental health condition, it can feel quite lonely and isolating. You may be afraid or ashamed to speak up about your condition and ask for help. Or, you might be too tired to talk to anyone about your pain and sadness.
Talking about mental health is key to healing. When you get into therapy, you can learn coping skills to deal with your mental suffering in your daily life. Additionally, a therapist can provide emotional support by offering a listening ear to your problems.
According to the National Alliance on Mental Illness California,
Without treatment, the consequences of mental illness for the individual and society are staggering. Untreated mental health conditions can result in unnecessary disability, unemployment, substance abuse, homelessness, inappropriate incarceration, and suicide, and poor quality of life. The economic cost of untreated mental illness is more than 100 billion dollars each year in the United States.
When mental health conditions go untreated, there are dire consequences to individuals. Many of us have experienced what it feels like not to get the proper mental health treatment, sometimes having a long wait for services, a therapist that is a bad fit, or insurance that doesn’t cover mental healthcare.
There are additional barriers in minority communities, who may need to find a therapist that speaks their native language, or to find a culturally-competent therapist.
September 2023 is National Suicide Prevention Month
This can be a time to educate ourselves about the reasons why people commit suicide, as well as how to prevent more suicides from happening. There are ways that we can all help someone who is struggling with suicidal thoughts and feelings, and pull them back from the edge.
When someone is contemplating suicide, it is crucial for them to have access to mental healthcare services. Having a therapist, psychiatrist, or medical provider working with them to address the causes of their suicidal ideation can help them to learn coping skills, and to lessen these thoughts of suicide.
However, there are barriers to receiving help. According to Rand,
A study in Utah contacted the family (including parents, siblings, and other relatives) and friends of 49 youth (aged 13–21) who took their lives (Moskos et al., 2007). The most commonly endorsed barrier to mental health treatment was a belief that treatment would not help (cited as a barrier by more than 70 percent of parents, siblings, relatives, and friends), stigma toward help-seeking (endorsed by 52–79 percent of interviewees), and reluctance to admit that there was a problem (endorsed by 58–79 percent of interviewees). Substantial proportions of family members and friends reported that the decedent did not know where to go to seek help, could not afford help, or did not have insurance coverage for mental health services.
When there are significant barriers to seeking help for mental health conditions, they can continue to worsen over time. Many times, when someone is contemplating suicide, what they really want is for the pain to stop. It can seem like dying is the only way out of the pain when life has gotten to the point that everything feels hopeless.
A Suicide Attempt is Never 'Just' a Cry for Help
If someone has attempted suicide, or told you that they want to attempt suicide, it is important to rally around them, and to be sure that they get the care and treatment that they need. Some people may need inpatient hospitalization, others will benefit from outpatient treatment.
If someone you know is contemplating suicide, you can have them call 988 for the National Suicide Prevention Hotline.
If they don’t emotionally feel up to calling, you can make the call for them, and receive referrals to services in your local area. If you are outside the United States, you can find a listing of worldwide suicide hotline numbers here.
The best thing you can do for someone who has attempted suicide or is thinking about attempting suicide is to stay with them until they can go to a crisis center or emergency room for immediate care. Knowing that they aren’t in this alone, and that they have love and support, can go a long way toward helping them decide against ending their life.
The Mental Health Community Needs Strong Advocates
People with mental health needs often have trouble speaking up for themselves and their needs. If you suffer with a mental health condition, you probably know what I am talking about. You may be ashamed of your condition or feel like you are a burden or a drain on the people around you.
However, it is important to tell someone if you are struggling with your mental health. This way, you can get the care and support that you need. As you learn coping strategies for the feelings that you are experiencing, you will begin to be able to live a full and happy life, even with a mental health condition.
Coping Strategies Library for Depression
Depression is a major risk factor for suicide. According to Science Direct,
In most studies of people dying by suicide, approximately nine out of every ten individuals appear to have had a psychiatric disorder at the time of their death (Henriksson et al., 1993, Cavanagh et al., 2003). Psychological autopsy studies have shown that depression is the most common of these disorders, occurring in half to two thirds of cases (Rich et al., 1986, Henriksson et al., 1993, Conwell et al., 1996, Harwood et al., 2001).
Since depression is a major risk factor for suicide, it is critical to be able to reach out to a friend or family member with depression, to help make sure that they are getting the treatments that they so badly need. If you have depression, it can feel difficult to impossible to reach out in your darkest moments. It may be difficult to even get out of bed at times.
So, if you know someone with depression and they just fall off the grid and stop answering text messages, this can be a sign that their depression is taking a darker turn. If you make a point to reach out at a time like this to ask if they need to talk, or need some help, it can make a huge impact in their lives.
I hope that this information about the importance of mental healthcare is helpful for you! If you or someone you know needs help learning to cope with a mental illness, here are some tips to find a therapist.
Please know that there is hope and help out there. You don’t have to suffer alone or in silence. There are people in your life that care about you, and support can be only one phone call away. Please, remember the 988 number, and call if you are having a struggle with suicidal thoughts or feelings. Your life is valuable. You matter. Your life matters. Please don’t give up!
There is hope and help out there for depression and suicidal thoughts.
Nicole Dake