SUICIDIAL INTENT AND THE ROLE OF THE COUNSELLOR

Suicidal Ideation and the Role of the Counsellor



Suicidal Ideation and the Role of the Counsellor

Introduction

The purpose of this paper is to enlighten and explore the psychology of suicide or suicidal intent. This paper explores different dimensions needed to enlighten the increasing rate of suicide in the society. The study constructs diverse dimensions that can assist the strategy formulation process in order to cope with the suicide attempts among people. The suicide attempts by a person not only affect their families; but, the society they reside in. The increased death rate of the people significantly affect the equilibrium of the society and the economy; because, these people can be the essential resources that contribute the growth and development of the country.

The death by suicide in teenage is part of the largest subgroup of youth who meet an early death. The subgroup, which includes suicide, accidental death, and violent death by homicide, constitutes a full 77% of all teenage deaths in the United Kingdom in the 1980s. Among young people, females are four or five times more likely to make suicide attempts and males are four times more likely to complete suicide Between 45 to 50 percent of suicidal deaths in the 15-25 age groups appear to be related to the use of alcohol and drugs. It is estimated that 25% to 30% of teenagers seen in counselling on campuses have a substance use problem. Approximately, 70% of teenage suicide attempts or completed suicides may be related to substance use disorder. The teenage suicide-related outcomes are an area of growing concern in the United Kingdom (Lambert 2004, pp. 139-193).

Discussion

The teenage suicide is one of the leading causes of death among the youngsters in the United Kingdom. In addition, one study found that 24% of teenagers had thought about attempting suicide while in college. Further concerns are findings from several studies indicating that Asian British college students reported higher levels of suicide ideation than their White British counterparts. For example, one national study found that the odds of seriously considering attempting suicide were 1.6 times higher for Asian-British teenagers as compared with White British teenagers.

The Psychological Symptoms of Suicidal People

Suicide can be considered as a complex and dynamic process, it consists of several stages beginning with a passive suicidal ideation, followed by increasingly active phase as the visualization of the act and its manifestation through verbal threats and suicidal gestures, the planning and preparation, execution and finally attempted suicide. Then, the person with suicidal thoughts is more likely to attempt suicide and who has tried it once is more likely to try again within a year, and now most likely to succeed. The close relationship between suicidal ideation and behaviour has been verified often in the teenagers, and sometimes in adults (Bruce Ten and Reynolds 2004, pp. 1081-1091).

Several studies have reported that almost 10-15% of the teenagers have at least one symptom of suicidal ideation. The high-suicide risk is associated with features like high school; often get poor grades, truancy and having worked ...