homework

Response in m..

Did this video change your opinion on suicide?       

The video has changed my opinion on suicide in that suicide is just like any other disease that someone may suffer from. The brain is something powerful that without control, it can make you believe something that is not true to others. This video has made me see the fact that there are sometimes regrets when one decides to commit suicide. In the case of Kevin, he remembers after throwing himself from the golden gate bridge, regrets ran into his mind, but it was too late for him to reverse the action.  However, at the time that he vaulted from the bridge, he felt that there was no other way for him to escape the feeling that no one else cared about him. This video also taught me that those who attempt or succeed in the act of suicide do so because the situations they were in compelled them that there was no other way out of their current situation.  

      What did the video teach you about suicide?

   

 This video taught me that the number of suicide cases happening in the world is significantly higher than I first thought. For example, over 2000 people have died, even more have attempted to commit suicide by jumping off the golden gate bridge. This is only one way of attempted suicide, there are many others that have even higher statistics.  Suicide is a result of an individual feeling that there is no other way to correct the problems in their life other than ending it, or that no one cares whether they were to remain alive.  The longer the patient has these feelings and they are not resolved or addressed, they are more likely to end up committing suicide. The victim is often blinded from seeing the true feelings of others or their current situation outside of the fog of severe depression and suicidal ideation.

        

When completing an initial assessment for a client with suicidal ideation, what are the most important pieces of information that should be captured.

 

There are factors considered when conducting an initial assessment of a suicidal patient, the health practitioner should identify the plan, means and time of committing suicide (McCabe et al., 2017).  To be more specific, the healthcare worker needs to identify the lethality of the patient’s plan for suicide, by asking questions to identify specifics about their plan. Also, one should checks if the client has the means to carry out suicide, such as do they have access to the gun or medication they plan to use to kill themselves. Lastly, the medical specialist should identify if the client has a planned time or place to execute the act.  Another important piece of information for the healthcare worker to find out is how long the patient has had these feelings in order to better understand the lethality of the suicidal ideation.

 

 

Reference

McCabe, R., Sterno, I., Priebe, S., Barnes, R., & Byng, R. (2017). How do healthcare professionals interview patients to assess suicide risk?. BMC psychiatry, 17(1), 122. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12888-017-1212-7