Postvention: When Suicide Prevention Fails
Suicidal behavior is a complex phenomenon that is influenced by psychological, biological, social, cultural and environmental factors. It can affect everyone regardless of gender, age, culture or social group. Its multicausal nature requires a systemic and cross-cutting approach to prevent it. When prevention fails, we need to talk about postvention.
Postvention is designed to offer help and support to family and relatives of people who have taken their own lives. Because of the stigma surrounding suicide, it is not uncommon for people closest to the deceased to have conflicting feelings.
Suicide is the leading cause of unnatural death in the United States, as there are more suicides than traffic fatalities. In 2018, more than 48,000 people took their own lives. That translates to 132 deaths a day or five an hour.
The WHO reports up to one million suicides each year and predicted that number would rise to 1.5 million by 2020. They have also found that men are more likely to take their own lives, while women have twice as many suicide attempt.
Suicide prevention
It is important for anyone who experiences suicidal ideation to know that they have someone they can turn to for help. It must be someone they can trust and can share their problems with without fear of stigma. It is also crucial that they seek the help of a professional who can recommend appropriate preventive treatment.
Remember: Suicide is a permanent solution to one or more problems that are almost always temporary. Just because there does not seem to be a solution right now does not mean that one cannot be found tomorrow.
It can be very helpful for a person to identify the situations that trigger a crisis. In other words, they need to find the causes of the suicidal thoughts in order to understand when a crisis might arise.
Finding a kind of “contingency plan” with or without a close friend or doctor can help reduce the likelihood that the person will attempt suicide in the future. This plan may consist of the following (note, it is indicative):
- Warning signals.
- Support Network: Names of trusted individuals, along with contact information so they can contact them in an emergency or imminent suicide attempt.
- Fixed clues: People or reasons why life is worth living.
- Preventive measures: To seek alternative solutions, and remove any. objects that could be used for self-harm.
- A list of emergency telephone numbers on 24-hour suicide prevention guides.
- A reminder to call 112 or go to the emergency room if the aforementioned things have not worked and the risk of suicide is imminent.
Postvention: When everything else fails
As already mentioned, postvention consists of offering social, psychological and institutional support to relatives of persons who have committed suicide. These people need to be supported and helped to grieve in a healthy way. This must be done while dealing with any risk factors that may complicate the grieving process.
Everyone mourns differently, and grief after a suicide is often different from other types of grief. There are no right or wrong reactions – all emotions are completely normal and acceptable (shock, denial, guilt, shame).
After a suicide, it is common for family and friends to ask “why” (why did they do it, why did I not help them?) And to think “if only” (if only, I had seen it, if only, they had asked about help).
As they continue to overcome grief, they begin to understand that while suicide can be prevented in some cases, there are others where no intervention can prevent their death. They could not have changed what happened. The grieving process ends when those closest to you understand that they will never get all their questions answered. Sometimes they will never be able to fully understand why their loved ones took their own lives.
Acceptance is the best way to get through a loss. No matter how difficult it may be, one has to respect this person’s decision. They should no longer be accused of the pain they have caused.
The relatives can finally begin to forgive both the deceased and themselves. However, guilt can still occur despite acceptance and forgiveness.
Killing Myths About Suicide: Basic Strategies for Postvention
The subject, suicide, is shrouded in myth, and is still very much taboo. The result is often that the family and friends of the person who has committed suicide have many conflicting emotions. Like sadness, we often see emotions like anger and rage. Shame is also common and can lead to one hiding the true causes of suicide for fear of being convicted.
It is important for postvention to use psychosocial support and strategies for psychoeducation. These are strategies related to the reactions and emotions that many have during the grieving process, as well as ways to respond to societal criticism. It is also important to let family and friends know that they have the right not to speak if that is what they need.
First of all, killing myths about suicide can help reduce conflicting emotions, as well as the fear of being convicted. Some common misconceptions are:
- Talking about suicide can lead to suicide.
- Suicide cannot be prevented because the person wants to die.
- Suicide is cowardly / brave.
- Individuals who take their own lives do so to gain attention.
- Those who are serious about committing suicide do not speak out about it.
Conclusion
People who attempt suicide or want to take their own lives deserve and need help, just like the people around them. It is important not to forget those who have lost someone to suicide. If the grieving process is by definition difficult and painful, it applies even more to suicide.
It is often associated with guilt and shame, which can be very persistent and resistant to intervention.
It can create problems in the future if you do not grieve properly. Without the necessary resources and support, it can even lead to depression.
Therefore, it is important that we not only focus on suicide prevention, but also improve the postventive methods. In addition, we must become better at creating awareness of it in society and end the stigma that grips those who have lost someone to suicide.
