Suicide Awareness

When you talk to someone who is suffering, reassure the other person that you are there to help, and that they deserve the help.

The RICH approach to active listening includes:

Respect. Validate the other person's feelings; avoid shaming comments; focus on strengths.

Information. Provide resources and suggest supports.

Connection. Acknowledge the healing power of relationships. Suggest ways to connect with others; be open and collaborative.

Hope. Offer hope and remind the other person to never, ever give up.

Validation is powerful: affirm the other person's worth and efforts to cope.

Here are key components to active listening:

Validation. Let the other person know they have a right to feel what they feel.

Affirmation. Help the other person focus on their strengths.

Encouragement. Offer hope, reminding them of struggles they've overcome.

Paraphrase. Use statements beginning with "What I hear is..." or "Let me repeat this to make sure I understand."

Reflecting. Similar to paraphrasing, reflecting sentences begin with phases such as "It sounds like you..." or "What I notice is..."

Emotional Labeling. We often label emotions as something we are, not something we have. For example, "I am sad" versus "I have sadness. Remind the other person that while they have intense feelings right now, they are not those feelings. Feelings are changeable over time.

Risk factors increase the potential for a person's suicide or suicidal behavior. A person's age, gender, or ethnicity can increase the impact of certain risk factors or combinations of risk factors. Understanding risk factors can help counteract the myth that suicide is a random act or results from stress alone.

Biological Risk Factors

• Previous suicide attempt
• Mental disorders - particularly mood disorders such as depression and bipolar disorder, anxiety disorders, schizophrenia, and certain personality disorder diagnoses
• Alcohol and substance abuse disorders
• Family history of suicide
• History of trauma or abuse
• Hopelessness
• Impulsive and/or aggressive tendencies
• Some major physical illnesses

Environmental Risk Factors

• Job or financial loss
• Relational or social loss
• Easy access to lethal means
• Local clusters of suicide that have a contagious influence

Socio-Cultural Risk Factors

• Stigma associated with help-seeking behavior
• Barriers to accessing health care, especially mental health and substance abuse treatment
• Certain cultural and religious beliefs - for instance, the belief that suicide is a noble resolution of a personal dilemma
• Exposure to the influence of others who have died by suicide, including media exposure

Protective Measures are personal or environmental characteristics that help protect people from suicide.

Major protective factors for suicide include:

• Easy access to physical and mental health care
• Connectedness to individuals, family, community, and social institutions
• Life skills (including self-care and coping skills; problem solving skills; conflict resolution; ability to adapt to change)
• Self-esteem and a sense of purpose or meaning in life

• Positive attitudes, values or beliefs
• Good mental, physical, spiritual and emotional health
• Success at school
• Good parenting skills
• Parental supervision
• Strong social supports

If someone you know is struggling, you can help that person consider and develop protective measures.

Encourage that person to reach out for help. Mental health professionals can collaborate and develop a specific plan to address protective measures.

Suicide is a growing public health issue in Wisconsin. In fact, one person dies by suicide every 10 minutes in our State.

▸ The suicide rate among Wisconsin residents increased by 40% between the years 2000–2017.
▸ The majority of suicide deaths were male, 2013–2017.
▸ The majority of those hospitalized or presenting at the emergency department with self-harm injuries were female, 2016–2017.
▸ The suicide rate was highest among individuals ages 45–54, 2013–2017.
▸ The suicide rate (per 100,000) for Wisconsin residents ages 45–54 has more than doubled from 2000 to 2017.
▸ Suicide rates were highest among American Indians/Alaska Natives and Whites, 2013–2017.
▸ Suicide rates were higher in rural counties than urban/suburban counties, 2013–2017.

Source: Prevent Suicide Wisconsin. Suicide in Wisconsin:
Impact and Response. September, 2020

The QPR process follows three steps:

(1) Question the individual's desire or intent regarding suicide,

(2) Persuade the person to seek and accept help, and

(3) Refer the person to appropriate resources.