“Though depression does not always lead to suicide, it is one of the major contributing causes of a suicidal state of mind, and it should be taken seriously on its own account” (Focus on the Family, 2015). There is no pot of gold at the end of darkness it is an act done by the person who has inflicted their own murder, and more importantly, it is a painful grieving process for the family members that loved the quitter of life.
Completing suicide has no single reason; people think the that stress, being bullied, bad relationships, loneliness, abuse, depression, substance abuse, a family history and anxiety plays a big part in the decision of ending one’s life. The purpose of this program called “Solomon’s Edge” is to decrease the number of suicide attempts and completions by creating more awareness. Word of mouth, posters, pamphlets, lectures, and hopefully television commercials can do this.
The mission is to discuss topics on understanding mental illness, addiction, and bullying to prevent the act from happening and getting the person to explain the negative thoughts so he or she will not harm himself or herself. The Problem with Suicide Too many people are committing a self-inflicted act of death that needs more attention on how to deal with the cause, how to spread awareness, and how to stop this strange and selfish act.
For instance, among adults aged 18 years or older in the United States during 2013 an estimated 9. million adults (3. 9% of the adult U. S. population) reported having suicidal thoughts in the past year. The percentage of adults having serious thoughts about suicide were highest among adults aged 18 to 25 (7. 4%), followed by adults aged 26 to 49 (4. 0%), then by adults aged 50 or older (2. 7%). An estimated 2. 7 million people (1. 1%) made a plan about how they would attempt suicide in the past year. The percentage of adults who made a suicide plan in the past year was higher among adults aged 18 to 25 (2. 5%) than among adults aged 26 to 49 (1. 5%) and those aged 50 or older (0. 6%).
An estimated 1. 3 million adults aged 18 or older (0. 6%) attempted suicide in the past year. Among some adults who attempted suicide, 1. 1 million also reported making suicide plans (0. 2 million did not make suicide plans). In the U. S. during 2013, at least 17. 0% of the students in grades 9th-12th seriously contemplated attempting suicide (22. 4% of females and 11. 6% of males). 13. 6% of students made a plan about how they would attempt suicide in the previous 12 months (16. % of females and 10. 3% of males).
8. 0% of students attempted suicide one or more times in the previous 12 months (10. 6% of females and 5. 4% of males). 2. 7% of students made a suicide attempt that resulted in an injury, poisoning, or an overdose that required medical attention (3. 6% of females and 1. 8% of males) (CDC, 2015, p. 2). Suicide by Genders Males take their own lives at nearly four times the rate of females and represent 77. 9% of all suicides. Females are more likely than males to have suicidal thoughts.
Suicide is the seventh leading cause of death for males and the fourteenth leading cause for females. Firearms are the most commonly used method of suicide among males (56. 9%). Poisoning is the most common method of suicide for females (34. 8%) (CDC, 2015, p. 2). Suicide by Age Suicide is the third leading cause of death among persons aged 10-14, the second among persons aged 15-34 years, the fourth among persons aged 35-44 years, the fifth among persons aged 45-54 years, the eighth among person 55-64 years, and the seventeenth among persons 65 years and older.
In 2011, middle-aged adults accounted for the largest proportion of suicides (56%) and from 1999-2010, the suicide rate among this group increased by nearly 30%. “There is a strong relationship between severity of depressive symptoms and suicidal ideation in college students, and that suicidal feelings and actions are relatively common in this group” (Garlow et al. , 2008). Among adults aged 18-22 years, similar percentages of full-time college students and other adults in this age group had suicidal thoughts (8. 0 and 8. 7%, respectively) or made suicide plans (2. and 3. 1%). Full-time college students aged 18-22 years were less likely to attempt suicide (0. 9 vs. 1. 9 percent) or receive medical attention because of a suicide attempt in the previous 12 months (0. 3 vs. 0. 7%) (CDC, 2015, p. 2).
Suicide by Cultural Make-ups Suicide is the eighth leading cause of death among American Indians/Alaska Natives across all ages. Among American Indians/Alaska Natives aged 10 to 34 years, suicide is the second leading cause of death. The suicide rate among American Indian/Alaska Native adolescents and young adults ages 15 to 34 (19. per 100,000) is 1. 5 times higher than the national average for that age group (12. 9 per 100,000). The percentages of adults aged 18 or older, having suicidal thoughts in the previous 12 months were 2. 9% among blacks, 3. 3% among Asians, 3. 6% among Hispanics, 4. 1% among whites, 4. 6% among Native Hawaiians /Other Pacific Islanders, 4. 8% among American Indians/Alaska Natives, and 7. 9% among adults reporting two or more races.
Among Hispanic students in grades 9-12, the prevalence of having seriously considered attempting suicide (18. %), having made a plan about how they would attempt suicide (15. 7%), having attempted suicide (11. 3%), and having made a suicide attempt that resulted in an injury, poisoning, or overdose that required medical attention (4. 1%) was consistently higher than white and black students (CDC, 2015, p. 2). Solomon’s Edge The purpose of Solomon’s Edge is to help people realizes suicide is a growing issue in this country by all genders of people. The topic chosen because of Solomon, a young man who completed suicide at 22 and there was not enough resources to assist his family.
This project is to inform and assist people that have lost loved ones whom have taken their own life by way of suicide by providing social outreach services, awareness, and support as a community program available to help people in need before it is too late. The goal is to create an outreach brochure with available services that not only reaches out to people after the fact, but beforehand and specifically to children starting at the age of nine to adults and senior citizens. Suicide is a hush topic that most people push under the rug in families because they believe the act to kill you is a sin.
This program will assist in providing lectures, therapeutic counseling, family preventative counseling, family grief counseling, and therapeutic mentor finding services. Suicide Prevention While three of four suicide victims had contact with primary care providers within the year of suicide, approximately one-third of the suicide victims had contact with mental health services (Luoma, Martin, & Pearson, 2002). It appears that mental health is not always the answer to suicide, because most people that seek care still commit suicide months later.
According to the Center of Disease Control (CDC) in 2013, suicide was the tenth cause of death amongst people of all ages with 41,149 suicides in the United States, which has a ratio of 12. 6 per 100,000 people, equaled to 113 suicides each day or one every 13 minutes. Data obtained about suicides in 16 National Violent Death Reporting System states in 2010, 33. 4% of suicide decedents tested positive for alcohol, 23. 8% for antidepressants, and 20. 0% for opiates, including heroin and prescription drugs. Suicide results in a projected $51 billion in shared medical and work loss costs.
In addition, there were 494,169 individuals treated in hospital emergency rooms for self-inflicted wounds in 2013, as well. Nonfatal, self-inflicted injuries (including hospitalized and emergency department treated and released) resulted in an estimated $10. 4 billion in combined medical and work loss costs. This paper will discuss and provide for topics on assisting and trying to understand addiction, bullying, and mental health concerning suicide (American Foundation of Suicide Prevention, 2014). Significance of Solomon’s Edge
The implementing of this project is due to a personal situation, whereas, losing a loved one to suicide, there was very little help or support in the community, school or government because it is one of those circumstances that people are afraid to talk about. Informing people with stress, being bullied, bad relationships, loneliness, abuse, depression, anxiety, and substance abuse play a big part in a person’s decision to think about the thought. Funeral expenses are another thing concerning this type of death most insurance companies do not want to pay up on the policies loved ones paid on that relative for most of his or her life.
