Suicidal Ideation: The Cognitive Pathway to Suicide

It is no news that suicide has been on the rise presently in Nigeria. People are becoming aware of the dilemma, though that hasn't reduced the occurrence of suicide. This is because it goes just beyond advising people not to say certain things to others or act in certain ways to people around them. Just yesterday, a steward of a state governor in Nigeria hung himself behind the state house. Although it was reported that he was withdrawn and didn't speak to anyone that day at work and after a while he was out of sight. This shows that no matter the socio-economic status of a person, suicide cuts across as even lecturers, bankers, etc have been known to commit suicide. I will be proving these in my next research work. So where did it all begin?
 

I usually say that suicide doesn't just happen but is the end of a chain of events. If this events are well managed or addressed then the final act of suicide would be reduced. Suicide begins with the thought of it. And that's called Suicidal Ideation. This is the thought of taking ones life by themselves. It doesn't just stop at thinking but graduates to planning suicide. People should seek for help at this time. People who go past this stage goes to the stage of attempting suicide. If unfortunate, they may lose their life as a result. Therefore, ith the rate of suicide on the rapid increase, suicidal thoughts must have tripled because not every one with the thoughts of suicide end up attempting it till completion.

There are some known causes of suicidal thoughts some of which are stress, depression, anxiety, substance abuse, mood disorders, eating disorders, panic attacks, some somatic disorders etc. All these would be discussed in details subsequently and how to recognize them and seek for proper help. Furthermore, there are other social and economic causes of suicidal thoughts like a divorce, loss of job, loss of a loved one, unemployment, failure of an examination, relationship break up, rejection, neglect from significant others, peer influence etc. However, not everyone who experiences these would think about suicide. Why? RESILIENCE! This is one major ingredient which is the ability to withstand major changes that are sometimes abrupt without breaking. But just like the rubber band, we need to know to what extent we can stretch before we finally snap. That is why we always need professional evaluation of ourselves from time to time. Going for psychological checkup should be as important as medical checkup!

Since Suicidal ideation is thought based, a major treatment is Cognitive Behavior Therapy which would be handled by an expert to help change these irrational or faulty thinking patterns. Also, counseling is also usually very important in suicidal cases as well. People's willing to talk about it and readiness to keep appointments with their mental health expert is very key in helping overcome suicidal thoughts.

Watch out for yourself and those close to you, and report cases you notice disturbing. You could just be saving yours and maybe another life.

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Seun Ogunla