Suicide Prevention

What to look for: warning signs of suicidal thoughts

Mary Cunningham — Mon, 12 Sep 2022 13:15:48 +0000

What to look for: warning signs of suicidal thoughts Mary Cunningham Mon, 09/12/2022 - 09:15

In This Story

K. Pierre Eklou, assistant professor in the School of Nursing, shares expertise on what behaviors may be signs of suicidal thoughts and how to help.

The pandemic has increased general awareness and promotion of mental health; however, roughly 46,000 Americans die by suicide each year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). This translates to about one death every 11 minutes. Suicide is the second leading cause of death among people ages 10-14 and 25-34.

During Suicide Prevention Awareness Month (September), K. Pierre Eklou, assistant professor in the Department of Nursing, shines light on this often-stigmatized topic and promotes suicide prevention.

“Suicide does not occur in a vacuum. There are always warning signs; knowing those can help prevent suicide,” said Eklou, who is a Board-Certified Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner (PMHNP) and runs Mason’s PMHNP program. “Suicidal thoughts can manifest differently in each person, so there’s a range of behaviors to watch for. If you are worried about someone, seek help. If you are worried about yourself, seek help. You are not alone.”

Warning Signs of Suicidal Thoughts

Thoughts or discussion of wanting to die or having no reason to live
Thoughts of being a burden to others
Feeling isolated or withdrawn
Engaging in risky or reckless behavior
Exhibiting mood swings

Lack of interest in future plans
Increasing use of alcohol or other illicit substances
Acting anxious or agitated
Sleeping too much or too little
Giving away possessions

Saying “goodbye” to family, friends, or loved ones
Looking for ways to kill oneself

What should you do if you or someone you know is having suicidal thoughts?

If you are having suicidal thoughts, know that you are not alone, and help is available. If you know someone who is exhibiting suicidal warning signs, reach out to them and a professional for help. View Mason’s list of suicide prevention resources here.

Anyone in the United States can call or text 988, the National Suicide & Crisis Lifeline, to be connected to trained counselors who will listen, understand how someone’s problems are affecting them, provide support, and connect them to resources if necessary. The National Suicide & Crisis Lifeline is working to change the conversation from “suicide” to “suicide prevention” to promote help and healing and to give hope.

If you are in crisis or having suicidal thoughts, contact 988 the National Suicide & Crisis Lifeline.

Dr. Kossi Pierre Eklou is an assistant professor for the School of Nursing at ��AV. He is a Board-Certified Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner (PMHNP) and is Mason’s PMHNP program coordinator. Eklou’s education and research interests include psychiatric/mental health nursing, substance use disorders, and population health with a focus on the underserved. Born in Togo (West Africa), Eklou has a particular interest in the mental health care and education of those living in Sub-Saharan Africa.

For media inquiries about Mason’s mental and behavioral health faculty experts, contact Michelle Thompson at 703-993-3485 or mthomp7@gmu.edu.

About Mason

��AV, Virginia’s largest public research university, enrolls 39,000 students from 130 countries and all 50 states. Located near Washington, D.C., Mason has grown rapidly over the last half-century and is recognized for its innovation and entrepreneurship, remarkable diversity, and commitment to accessibility. In 2022, Mason celebrates 50 years as an independent institution. Learn more at http://www.gmu.edu.

About the College of Health and Human Services

The College of Health and Human Services prepares students to become leaders and to shape the public's health through academic excellence, research of consequence, community outreach, and interprofessional clinical practice. The College enrolls more than 1,900 undergraduate and 1,300 graduate students in its nationally-recognized offerings, including 6 undergraduate degrees, 13 graduate degrees, and 6 certificate programs. The college is transitioning to a college of public health in the near future. For more information, visit https://chhs.gmu.edu/.

Thumbnail photo by Nik Shuliahin on Unsplash.

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Mason offers options for mental health assistance, suicide prevention

Colleen Rich — Fri, 02 Sep 2022 16:29:45 +0000

Mason offers options for mental health assistance, suicide prevention Colleen Rich Fri, 09/02/2022 - 12:29

Information presented in this article may be triggering to some people. If you are having suicidal thoughts, contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 800-273-8255 for support and assistance from a trained counselor. If you or a loved one are in immediate danger, call 911.

As part of Suicide Prevention Awareness Month, ��AV mental health leaders want to educate the campus community about the issues surrounding suicide and mental health, enabling Patriots to take part in suicide prevention, help others in crisis, and change the conversation around suicide.

College brings the excitement of increased freedom as well as the potential for anxiety-related to adjusting to living away from home, studying, and defining one’s identity. These stressors can serve as triggers for anxiety and depression, as well as emotional distress. These feelings could lead to suicidal thoughts or actions, creating tremendous and possibly dangerous implications if help is not sought out.

While COVID has begun to normalize conversations about mental health, a public stigma around suicide can prevent people from getting the help they need. One dangerous myth is that asking someone about suicidal thoughts will lead that person toward the behavior, said Jennifer Kahler, director of Mason’s Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS).

“But that’s not the case,” Kahler said. When suicide is spoken about with a focus on overcoming ideation and utilizing positive, hopeful and inspiring language, these conversations are highly beneficial and can prevent suicide.

“Asking about suicide actually opens the conversation so that those thinking about suicide don’t feel so alone,” said Mason psychology professor Christianne Esposito-Smythers, director of the Center for Evidence-Based Behavioral Health at Mason. “Oftentimes people will hide their thoughts from others and may feel as if no one will understand what they are going through. Asking others with warning signs about suicidal thoughts decreases the chance of suicidal actions.”

Mason provides student mental health resources and suicide prevention tools through a number of resources, including the MasonCARES Suicide Prevention Program, a two-hour gatekeeping program designed to train faculty, staff, and students in how to respond to individuals who may be experiencing distress and suicidal thoughts and guide them in seeking appropriate assistance through CAPS.

If someone is showing displays of behaviors such as anxiety, articulating a lack of purpose, stating feelings of being trapped or hopeless, not attending class or withdrawing from activities, experiencing mood swings, etc., these may be suicide warning signs.

“Training is one of the key parts of suicide prevention at Mason,” Kahler said. “MasonCARES educates faculty, students and staff on how to support students in distress by teaching them the right questions to ask, what to say and when to get them help. If individuals have training and recognize worrisome signs, say something to the student, and reach out to CAPS, that could make all the difference in getting that student help that they otherwise wouldn’t have gotten.”

CAPS offers students immediate free assistance; there is no billing office and no insurance is required. Initial appointments are virtual, and providers work with students to find out their preferred method of treatment moving forward.

Any assistance students receive from CAPS is confidential and is kept separate from academic records, Kahler added.

Another option for students is Mason’s Center for Psychological Services, where evidence-based, accessible, affordable and culturally sensitive therapy and testing services are provided by Mason graduate students under clinical supervision. Other services include an emotional support line and short-term intervention sessions.

One of the center’s goals is to train clinicians in evidence-based treatment, which incorporates suicide screening. This type of treatment is critical because it helps individuals to “become their own therapist, with lifelong skills such as the ability to effectively problem-solve, evaluate thoughts, manage strong emotions and communicate in a way that others will listen,” Esposito-Smythers said.

If you are concerned about your ability to keep yourself or others safe, contact CAPS Monday, Tuesday, Thursday or Friday between 9 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. or Wednesdays between noon and 4:30 p.m. at 703-993-2380.

For mental health crises after hours, call 703-993-2380 and select option 1 to connect with a crisis counselor.

Other suicide prevention or mental health resources can be found on the After-Hours Crisis Support page.

Facts about Suicide

According to the World Health Organization, suicide is the fourth leading cause of death among adolescents 15–19 years of age. Recent data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows 1 in 4 adults ages 18–24 contemplated suicide in June 2020. A study of the rates of mental illness on U.S. campuses during the summer of 2020 indicated that as many as 1 in 3 college students was suffering from depression during the first year of the pandemic, which was twice as many as in 2019, with students also reporting higher rates of anxiety disorders.

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Campus News

Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS)

Suicide Prevention

College of Humanities and Social Sciences Center for Psychological Services

Alemi Researches Connection Between COVID-19 and Suicide Among Essential Workers

Anonymous — Thu, 06 Jan 2022 14:07:18 +0000

Alemi Researches Connection Between COVID-19 and Suicide Among Essential Workers Anonymous (not verified) Thu, 01/06/2022 - 09:07

In This Story

Farrokh Alemi, PhD

Study aims to offer evidence-based policy recommendations for improving mental health and preventing suicide in essential workers.

Farrokh Alemi, professor of Health Administration and Policy, is working on a new study to identify a connection between COVID-19 and suicide among essential workers. The project is led by Yunyu Xiao at Cornell University. The team is studying how gender, racial/ethnic, medical history, and socioeconomic status affected suicide patterns and whether COVID-19 contributes to suicide beyond what might be expected from these factors. The study is focused on essential workers in food, hospitality, and public transportation work sectors in 2020.

Farrokh Alemi

The team hypothesizes that essential workers had higher rates of suicide and related adverse health outcomes than other occupations and that there were outcome disparities among workers based on gender and/or race/ethnicity. COVID-19 restrictions, pre-existing medical conditions, and social determinants of health may have played a part in increasing suicidal thoughts and actions; however, for employees who obtained support from the CARES (Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security) Act, the study is examining whether they had fewer suicide-related thoughts or actions.

The results of the study will contribute to evidence-based policy recommendations in a real-world setting. The team plans to offer a public health framework with targeted mitigation strategies, medical interventions, and other recommendations to reduce sociodemographic disparities in suicide during the COVID-19 pandemic for patients, essential workers, and health care systems. The study is funded by the Gates Foundation, the Healthcare Cost Institute, and Cornell University, with whom the team is working.

“We seek to build research-policy and public-private collaborations to advocate for more equitable policies for improving mental health and preventing suicide among essential workers,” says Alemi.

Previously, Alemi has studied social determinants of suicide in veterans. He has organized MeAgainMeds.com to provide data science-supported advice on the selection of antidepressants. Additionally, he and principal investigator Xiao are collaborating on a grant to examine suicide among transgender youth. And both are part of Tuesday Meetings on Suicide, a group of researchers across seven universities who have met biweekly on Tuesdays since March 2019 to discuss research on suicide.

The research team includes Xiao, Alemi, Julian Chun-Chung Chow from the University of California, Berkley, Fei Weng from Weill Cornell Medical College, and Paul Siu Fai Yip from the University of Hong Kong. The retrospective, observational, matched case-control study is officially titled “COVID-19 Syndemics and Suicide Among Essential Workers: How the CARES Act Influenced the Trends.” The team expects to complete the study in the spring of 2022.

Learn more about Dr. Alemi and his research on his profile.

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