Challenges and stigma around suicide

The International Association for Suicide Prevention (IASP) organizes, and the World Health Organization (WHO) endorses World Suicide Prevention Day (WSPD), which is observed annually on September 10th. 

Suicide is not the solution to your problems. Your life is precious. Understand the importance of life.  

Read this article to learn how to face the challenges and stigma around suicide.  

Suicide is the fourth leading cause of death in teenagers aged 15 to 19 years old. If you or a loved one is suffering from a mental health disorder, people’s behavior, actions, and thinking changes drastically and they treat you like you did something shameful. People do it most of the time, without understanding the consequences. It not only hurts the person who has mental disorders like self-harming behavior. They might develop complete isolation, depression, and mental problems, or try to attempt suicide.  

So, it is important to learn how to eradicate this problem.  

The stigma associated with mental health and suicide  

Stigma can negatively influence mental health which can lead to suicide. Stigma builds shame in the person; this makes it hard to see or meet people. People push them more in isolation, ignore them or discriminate against them. That gives them anxiety, stress, and depression. They avoid meeting people, make them isolate themselves completely, and feel grief or loss. Many family members and friends start thinking they are at fault for the bereavement of the person.  

These situations might develop feelings or thoughts of suicide. And many people do try to attempt suicide.  

How do you break the stigma? 

Breaking down the stigma is not easy because you can’t change the perspective of every person. But still, some ways can help you to break down the stigma, including: 

• Researchers suggested that individuals should identify the warning signs of a person prone to self-harming behavior. If you are concerned about someone you should ask for help from the national suicide helpline anytime to safeguard that person.  
• Help the survivors by raising your voice against prejudice and stigma to change people’s perspectives. 
• Use the power of social media to promote and talk openly about suicide and the prejudice the survivors must go through.  

• Examine your thoughts and understanding. Should I need to be more sensitive around someone so that he/she does not suffer from any mental illness stigma? 
• Give support to the people who’ve lost a person to suicide. Because research shows that many people develop stigma, shame, responsibility, or guilt.

Steps to Overcome the Stigma 

Besides breaking the stigma, several steps can help you to overcome the stigma, such as: 

• Take treatment for your mental illness: This is especially important for people who try to attempt suicide because they fear admitting and getting treatment. However, taking treatment not only improves their mental condition and provides them with relief from their symptoms so that they can lead a normal life. 
• Don’t let the stigma affect you: Stigma not only comes from other people but also from your mind. You start feeling shameful, and guilty or develop self-doubt which can ruin your life. To avoid its effects, increase your knowledge, get some counseling, or join groups where people with similar problems come and talk. That builds your self-esteem and helps to avoid the stigma around you.  
• Don’t isolate: Isolation’s not going to remove your bad thoughts, instead, it makes you more vulnerable to them. So, you must share your problem with the people you trust so that your mood and thinking will improve. 
• Join a support group: Support groups not only build your self-esteem and self-confidence. But give you a place and people who are suffering from the same feelings and consequences of what they did. The sense of belonging and mutual feeling helps all of them to heal and grow. It not only reduces stigma, but people together can speak against the stigma and try to change people’s perspectives about them.  
• Raise your voice against the stigma: Share your opinion on events, and social media platforms or publish your thoughts in magazines, newspapers, or online articles. Educate people about mental illness and how your perspective affects the other person’s life and thinking. So that people understand their problems and understand their mistakes.  

The stigma around suicide is all about perspective or old cultural thinking. But this stigma is bad for people who have mental problems or people who lost their family members due to suicide. It is important to create awareness about suicide and the effects of the stigma they create around them.  

Want to learn more about treatments that are given to the survivors of a suicide attempt? At Doral Health and Wellness, we have doctors that can help you. For more information, you can visit us at 1797 Pitkin Avenue, Brooklyn, New York, 11212, or call us on 1-347-384-5690. You can also visit our website at https://doralhw.org or contact us at info@doralhw.org if you have any queries.