Online Lifestyle Magazine for Healthcare Workers by Pulse Uniform

Awareness: Suicide

Suicide is a serious, horrifying and unfortunate incident. Everyone must take notice
of occurrences such as this for life must be treasured and it is best for everyone to
not just let it completely go to waste.

In 2010, there were 38,364 suicide cases in the United States with an average of
105 each day making suicide the 10th leading cause of death for Americans. There
were twice as many deaths due to HIV/AIDS and the overall rate was 11.3 suicide
deaths per 100,000 people. In addition, an average of 1 person dies by suicide
every 16.2 minutes.

Suicide is the 3rd leading cause of death among people aged 15-24 years, 2nd
among people aged 25-34, the 4th among people aged 35-54 and the 8th among
people 55-64 years. Also, in 2007, suicide was the 7th leading cause of death for
males and the 15th leading cause of death for females. Four times more men than
women killed themselves; but three times more women than men attempted
suicide.

Furthermore, firearms, suffocation and poison are by far the most common methods
of suicide, overall. Firearms were the most commonly used method of suicide
among males (56%) while poisoning was the most common method of suicide for
females (37.4%).

These cases are further influenced by certain risk factors such as depression,
mental disorders, substance-abuse disorder, prior suicide attempt, family history of
mental disorder, family history of suicide, family violence including physical or
sexual abuse, firearms in the home, incarceration and exposure to the suicidal
behaviour of others such as family members, peers, or the media. Among these risk
factors, the strongest risk factor for suicide was depression.

Moreover, these suicides resulted in an estimated $34.6 billion medical and work
loss costs. However, research has shown medications and therapy to be effective
suicide prevention and can also be prevented through education and public
awareness.

Suicide, self-destruction, self-murder; call it whatever you want. At the end of the
day it’ll all fall on one thing: taking a valuable gift. It is best to be aware of the
factors that influence these incidents and how it can be prevented. Saving lives is
definitely important and a better way to start caring for others is by taking care of
you first.

 

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About Timotheo Lorenzo F