Sept. 10 of each year has been designated World Suicide Prevention Day (WSPD). According to the WSPD website, more than 800,000 people take their own lives each year, with thousands more attempting suicide. This year marks the 15th anniversary of the day\u2019s observance, with the chosen theme \u201cTake a minute, save a life.\u201d<\/p>\n
According to the WSPD website, personal connection is a key factor in preventing suicide.<\/p>\n
\u201c(People who have attempted suicide) often talk movingly about reaching the point where they could see no alternative but to take their own life\u2026 They often describe realizing that they did not want to die but instead wanted someone to intervene and stop them,\u201d the WSPD website states. For many in the Harding community, suicide prevention hits close to home.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve just had a lot of issues with depression in the past, especially in high school,\u201d senior Brian Cozart said. \u201cI tried to commit suicide when I was in high school, so it\u2019s a very personal issue for me and my family. It\u2019s something that we\u2019ve had to deal with and something that, luckily, with a lot of therapy, but \u2014 especially a lot of support \u2014 I\u2019ve been able to mostly put behind me.\u201d<\/p>\n
According to Cozart and Harding counselor Briana Cunningham, there are a number of ways to personally help those struggling with suicidal impulses.<\/p>\n
Look for the signs<\/strong><\/p>\n According to Cunningham, students should be on the lookout for ways to intervene at the first signs of troubling behavior, including under- or over-eating and sleeping, skipping classes, irritability, restlessness, tying up loose ends and speaking as though they are dissatisfied with life.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s really like a cluster of different things that people are dealing with, but especially if they begin to talk like they don\u2019t want to be here,\u201d Cunningham said. \u201cA lot of times people will begin to say things that just don\u2019t quite feel right \u2014 don\u2019t quite sound right \u2014 and you\u2019re not really sure if they really mean what they\u2019re saying.\u201d<\/p>\n Be a friend <\/strong><\/p>\n According to Cozart, family and strong friendships were an important resource for him in high school.<\/p>\n \u201cYou have to definitely meet people where they are, and don\u2019t be pushy or overbearing, because it\u2019s just nothing more irritating than somebody up in your business, especially if you\u2019re having a bunch of issues,\u201d Cozart said. \u201cIt\u2019s good to show your support, but in the way that that person needs it.\u201d<\/p>\n Cunningham encouraged strong friendships, but cautioned against taking matters into your own hands, as it can be detrimental to the health of the friends. Her advice: leave suicide watches to the professionals.<\/p>\n Take advantage of mental health resources<\/strong><\/p>\n According to Cunningham, student mental health resources includes more than just the campus Counseling Center.<\/p>\n \u201cIf someone is having suicidal thoughts or thoughts of harming themselves, what we suggest, if you\u2019re on campus, is that you get yourself to the emergency room. Or if you\u2019re a friend and you think they\u2019re serious about harming themselves, get them to the emergency room, and if that requires calling Public Safety, then that\u2019s a good route to take,\u201d Cunningham said.<\/p>\n Cunningham also advised that students seeking help consider seeing a physician rather than a traditional counselor, as they are also able to evaluate symptoms and diagnose depression.<\/p>\n If you see trouble, act<\/strong><\/p>\n Although suicide is often signaled by poor self care, Cunningham noted that it is often an impulsive decision made on the part of the individual.<\/p>\n \u201cIf you feel like that person is threatening to harm themselves any moment, as a friend, I would just say push the panic button and get somebody in there quick who\u2019s qualified to deal with that situation,\u201d Cunningham said. \u201cIf you really think that they might hurt themselves, get Public Safety or the police, or if they\u2019re in the car with you, go immediately to the emergency room and get them the help that they need.\u201d<\/p>\n If you or someone you know is considering suicide, contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255 or The Harding University Counseling Center in McInteer 313, at 501-279-4347.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Sept. 10 of each year has been designated World Suicide Prevention Day (WSPD). According to the WSPD website, more than 800,000 people take their own lives each year, with thousands…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14921,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[136],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9038","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-lifestyle"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thelink.harding.edu\/the-bison\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9038","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thelink.harding.edu\/the-bison\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thelink.harding.edu\/the-bison\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelink.harding.edu\/the-bison\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/14921"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelink.harding.edu\/the-bison\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9038"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/thelink.harding.edu\/the-bison\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9038\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thelink.harding.edu\/the-bison\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9038"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelink.harding.edu\/the-bison\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9038"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelink.harding.edu\/the-bison\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9038"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}