If you think about someone in suicidal distress, who do you imagine? Someone that tears up at every turn, avoids socializing, appears hopeless and boringly miserable. However, emotional pain does not often wear a banner. People can hide their suicidal distress behind a smile, a tight schedule and career success and even apparently positive feelings.
And it is one by which spotting warning signs is important. Not everyone who thinks about suicide will say they are struggling. Although they are still attending work, meeting friends, posting on social media or keeping up with obligations they are doing so with a burden of emotional pain debilitating them in private.
The question is how can this less obvious sign be understood so that families, friends and individuals who may require professional help recognize these signs in a timely manner.
What Is Suicidal Distress?
Suicidal distress is an extreme form of emotional or psychological pain in which a person feels tied to their lives with tracks and unable to conduct. This may be hopelessness, helplessness, emotional burnout or burnt out.
The symptoms are not similar for every person with suicidal thoughts. While many may be deeply sad for some who are numb, irritated or angry or anxious or far away from this world.
This is why only looking for sadness means that we miss key warning signs.
Suicidal Distress May Look Like an OK Functioning Person
An important component of suicidal distress is a persons ability to appear relatively normal.
A person may still:
● Go to work or college everyday
● Complete household responsibilities
● Socialize with friends
● Laugh and participate in conversations
● Take care of their appearance
● Perform well professionally
● Post cheerful content online
● Make plans with others
None of which mean you are automatically safe emotionally.
Some people become extremely adept at masking what they are going through because they do not want to burden anyone, feel embarrassed by asking for help or think that no one will understand them.
You hear about these attempts to kill yourself – what, and inside their own walls — the person who move looked outward have been able to tell us?
Warning Signs That May Not Look Like Sadness
Understanding suicidal distress is not just about visible sadness. Sometimes, behaviour changes in personality, communication and daily routines may offer crucial clues.
1. Sudden Calm After Intense Distress
Someone who has been highly distressed may suddenly seem strangely at peace or relieved. Many of these are not a crisis, but an abrupt and unaccountable change in mood should not be lightly dismissed.
2. Increased Irritability or Anger
People who experience suicidal thoughts I do not all walk around looking miserable. The others get unexpectedly irritable, frustrated, impatient or angry. Repeated fights or crying spells may indicate a real mental illness.
3. Emotional Numbness
Instead of crying, someone might say that they feel nothing. They may refer to being hollow, feeling disconnected, feeling incapable of enjoying things they previously valued.
Much of these existing analyses however have not placed equal importance on emotional numbness in understanding suicidal distress when assessed.
4. Withdrawing Without Completely Disappearing
It could be that someone keeps socialising with people but stops having meaningful conversations. They may stop talking about personal experiences, or avoid requesting assistance, or create an emotional distance.
The slight variations can be difficult to notice
5. Shift in Sleep or Daily Routine
Mental health challenges can also be accompanied by notable shifts in sleeping patterns, appetite, energy, attention or activities of daily life. Some of them include sleep disorders, loss of motivation, mood swings and coping with daily stresses on the website of Dr. Amulya Shetty‘s Clinic to consider psychiatric intervention.
6. Giving Away Valued Possessions or Saying Unusual Goodbyes
Completely totally different indicators resembling giving away cherished belongings, saying farewell for no motive or behaving as if they are getting ready to depart must be taken critically.
These behaviours are very concerning and should be seen as red flags, especially in combination with suicidal ideation or major fluctuations in mood.
Reasons for Hiding Suicidal Thoughts
People hide suicidal thoughts for many reasons.
They might be scared of being judged or jumbled up. They might fear that discussing their emotions will become a burden on their family. Some may think that they should be able to figure it all out on their own.
Some may not even understand exactly what they are going through.
Mental health problems may alter your thoughts, feelings or behaviours and can compromise your social interactions, sleep and motivation as well as how you function in your day to day life. Only asking them what to do about their depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder, PTSD or other mental health problems may mean they need professional evaluation and help. A large number of these concerns are managed in our psychiatric care at Dr. Amulya Shetty’s Clinic.
How Can You Help An Individual Who Is In Suicidal Distress?
When you see someone very close to you acting strangely, try not to criticize him or her but take action.
Start with simple questions, such as:
“Are you doing okay?”
“You seem different lately. Do you want to talk?”
If something has been feeling hard, I am here.
If someone confides in you that they are feeling suicidal, do not tell them things like “Just think positive thoughts” or “Everyone has ups and downs.”
Just listen calmly and push for them to get help.
If you think that someone is going to harm themselves in the present, do not leave them alone. Emergency Help: Get immediate help right now.
112 is the single national emergency number for urgent assistance in India. Tele-MANAS offers 24X7 mental health support at 14416 or1800-89-14416.
When to Seek Professional Help?
You might not want to consult a mental health professional until you hit a crisis.
Asking for a professional assessment should be considered in the presence of chronic hopelessness, substantial shifting in behavior or attitude; emotional numbness; major anxiety disorder symptoms with sleep irregularity, loss of drive, negative feelings and thoughts about life or suicide.
A qualified psychiatrist will be able to determine the mental status of the patient, understand the potential underlying conditions and advise a suitable treatment plan accordingly. The treatment for any individual depends on their needs and may include psychotherapy, medication, lifestyle changes or a combination of approaches. Dr. Amulya Shetty’s Clinic is a holistic mix of psychology and medical care if needed.
Dr Amulya Shetty: Specified psychiatrist in mumbai for effective mental health treatment
A mental health professional helps you to talk about what is hard to say. Dr. Amulya Shetty is a renowned psychiatrist in Mumbai who has over 10 years of experience and has completed her MBBS from SDM Medical College, Dharwad and an MD in Psychiatry from DY Patil Medical College, Navi Mumbai.
Dr. Amulya Shetty uses evidence-based approaches including Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, Rational Emotive Behaviour Therapy, Transactional Analysis and Gestalt therapy in her work. They focus on confidentiality and also provide more of an open environment where individuals can speak about their issues free from fear.
True words: For the suicidal distressed, help-seeking is not a weakness. This is a big move to getting a grip on what’s going on and receiving the help required.
Take Suicidal Distress Seriously
Sadness is not the universal front for suicidal distress. Sometimes it looks like anger. Sometimes it looks like silence. At times it manifests as emotional bluntness. And sometimes, it looks like a person who seems perfectly normal.
This is why early conversations and professional support are important.
You should not dismiss such signs, nor do you need to wait until the situation becomes much worse before seeking help if you are or a loved one is having thoughts of suicide. Talking to an expert with mental health experience can reveal the root issues and dictate what you need to do next.
Dr. Amulya Shetty offers tailored, individualized psychiatric care that targets the specific emotional and psychological needs of each individual in a compassionate manner behind closed doors.
You do not need to be a subject matter expert before reaching out for help. Sometimes asking for help is the start of understanding.
What Professional Psychiatric Care Can Do For You
A professional assessment can help distinguish symptoms as either from depression, anxiety, grief, another psychiatric condition, medication effects, cognitive decline or some combination of such.
This means that mental health care at Dr. Shetty’s Clinic is curated, rather than hinged on just symptoms. Dr. Amulya Shetty will be providing services for all ages using a variety of techniques – therapy, medication and lifestyle changes.
For compassionate, evidence-based mental healthcare for individuals and families, Dr. Amulya Shetty is among the top psychiatry in Mumbai. With more than a decade of experience, she is an MBBS graduate from SDM Medical College, Dharwad and MD in Psychiatry from DY Patil Medical College, Navi Mumbai. She uses evidence based practice, including Cognitive Behavioural Therapy and other psychotherapy.
If families worry about suicide in elderly people, acquiring psychiatric help provides an opportunity to get understanding of what the person is going through and make a plan for his/her care.