Starting in 2019, I am going to have one myth buster post on Mondays about the subjects we cover here. There are so many myths about grief, addiction, mental illness and suicide. Some still think addiction is the result of a moral failing and others believe if someone is thinking of suicide, you can’t change their mind. Both of those are not true.
There will be authors other than me covering these. And one of those authors could be you.
I would love some suggestions from you guys. What are some of the myths you hear?
Hurray for myth busting Mondays! What an excellent idea!
Many people believe that if someone attempts suicide but surivives, they will just go on to find another way. Statistics don’t bear that out! One of the many articles I read on this topic came from thetrace.org and stated that about 90% of all those who attempted suicide and failed did not go on to kill themselves. Studies of survivors show that they are often in a crises and act on impulse! When firearms are involved that impulse is almost always fatal. The study I mentioned said that a quarter of those who attempted suicide spent less than 5 minutes from the time they thought about it to the time they attempted!
They don’t normally “find another way.” However, if someone has an attempt, their chances of completing a suicide are that much higher because history of previous suicide attempt is the strongest predictor for future suicidal ideation, suicide attempts, and completed suicide. Almost two thirds of those who die by suicide had a previous attempt and it is a serious risk factor.
I didn’t know that fact until I started co-presenting with Dr. Horowitz at NIMH. She is a suicide researcher. One study.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5510596/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4247360/
However, you bring up a good point. Because there is an assumption that suicidal people are “determined” to end their life when that is not the case. And there are far more attempts than completed suicide.
https://www.thetrace.org/2016/09/10-facts-guns-suicide-prevention-month/
The information below is fact # 4 from the article cited above.
About 90 percent of people who survive suicide attempts don’t go on to kill themselves.
One of the biggest myths about suicide prevention is the notion that people who don’t succeed at killing themselves will simply find another means until they succeed, says Dr. Matthew Miller, the co-director of the Harvard Injury Control Research Center.
“You’ve got people saying, ‘Oh, if he didn’t shoot himself, he would have jumped off a tall building or found another way to kill himself.’ It’s not illogical, it’s just wrong — wrong in the face of facts that strongly say otherwise,” he says.
According to Catherine Barber, a suicide expert and Miller’s Harvard colleague, extensive research on this topic shows that between 5 and 11 percent of people who attempt suicides will go on to kill themselves — but the majority will not.
That’s because suicide is often an impulsive decision. One study found that a quarter of people took less than five minutes between deciding to kill themselves and attempting suicide.
There are many that claim marijuana is safe and would keep people from going to harder drugs. Every Person I have talked to that has lost a loved one to overdose shares that the person started with Marijuana. Not sure how to word the Myth but I think Marijuana is like alcohol, some can consume responsibly while others cannot.
Thanks Don. That’s where my son’s addiction started. It “flipped his switch.”