Suicide

            
             There are many types of human behaviors. Some human behaviors are bearable and people deal with them their whole lives. Other human behaviors are unbearable and can result in serious harm or death of a person. One such human behavior is suicide. There are many reasons why people choose to commit suicide but most often it begins with depression. People often feel helpless, hopeless, alone, empty and a range of other negative emotions when they commit suicide. In fact, according to The Journal of the American Medical Association, 95% of all suicides occur during the peak of a depressive episode when clear and rational thinking is distorted. In the body of this paper, through literature review, I hope to address the following questions: What is suicide? Why do people commit suicide? What are the warning signs of a suicidal person? How can suicide be prevented?.
             Suicide is an issue that we as social workers will have to deal with. It is important for us as social workers to be familiar with suicide because, the way we intervention can be crucial to saving a life or loosing a life. We have to be aware of our comfort level, we need to be able to up on our crisis intervention skills, and be able to respond quickly. We must also put forth our best effort and at the same time realize that suicide prevention may not always work.
             Literature Review.
             According to Patros, suicide is defined as "the deliberate taking of one's own life. Suicide may be compulsory, prescribed by custom or enjoined by the authorities, usually as an alternative to death at the hands of others, or it may be committed for personal motives. Depending on the time and place, it may be regarded as a heroic deed-(1998).
             United Way of Connecticut tells us that, .
             In the United States 29,350 individuals completed suicide in 2000 that's 80.0 people each day one person approximately every 18 minutes. Of those 29,350 individuals, approximately 3,994 were youth between 15 and 24 years old Suicide is the 11th leading cause of death in the United States; however, it is the 3rd .