Suicide and Its Prevention: A Literature Review

This literature review explores the reasons behind suicide attempts and discusses the trends of attempting suicide among the citizens of specific regions. It also highlights the methods of preventing suicide attempts and the potential problems and limitations to take initiatives for eliminating substitute or alternative methods which the attempters use when their fail to commit suicide.

Running head: SUICIDE AND ITS PREVENTION
SUICIDE AND ITS PREVENTION
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1SUICIDE AND ITS PREVENTION
Abstract
Suicide is an act of causing one’s own death intentionally in which the chief risk
factors are chiefly psychological. These mental factors include depression, personality
disorder and schizophrenia. Due to substance abuse like drugs, alcohol and other
psychoactive drugs the people are compelled to commit suicide. In addition to this, suicide
can also be the consequence of financial difficulties, bullying and difficulties
with relationships. According the scholars, the people who once have attempted suicide, can
be at a higher risk for future attempt of the same. This is why numerous associations of social
care practitioners have been trying utmost to limit the access of suicide among the young
people of the country and pacify the already suffered. In this aspect various literature can be
named where the authors have tried to find out the actual reasons of suicide attempts and
discussed the trends of attempting suicide among the citizens of specific regions.
Literature review
Florentine and Crane (2010) have discusses the approach of imitating the access to the
suicide method strategized by many national suicide prevention organisations. These authors
have analysed two main attempts that these associations use to limit access are physical and
cognitive. In their analysis, the authors have reviewed physical imitation of attempting
suicide in the lights of access to catalytic converters, domestic gas, firearms, jumping,
paracetamol, pesticides and the methods used in prisons. On the other hand, the cognitive
impacts have been discussed mainly with the regard to media to provide access to the
technical information as well as sensational and inaccurate portrayals of attempting suicide.
This literature has drawn psychological models of suicidal behavior then explored the
methods to limit access to suicide (Haring, 2011). In addition to this, the literature has also
pointed out the potential problems and limitations to take initiatives for eliminating substitute

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or alternative methods which the attempters use when their fail to commit suicide. These
authors have mainly supported the psychological prevention strategy to prevent such issues.
O'Connell (2012), on the other hand have discussed the fast-increasing trends of
attempting suicide among all the age groups of people. To him, these issues can be reduced
by the appropriate care of the advanced practice psychiatric nurses who possess necessary
skills to intervene in the suicidal crisis. To the author not every healthcare practitioner
identifies and deal with acutely suicidal children and adolescents and they will not feel
comfortable to recognize and interven in the suicidal crisis but the advanced practice
psychiatric nurses can easily prevent the second attempt of the victims (Mian & Sufi, 2015).
The scholars like Wu, Chen and Yip (2012), have focused their study of suicide and
its prevention to the examination of the statistics of suicide attempts among the Asians and
strategized some methods to reduce these fast-growing incidents. To these authors, the Asian
countries lacks systematic exploration of suicide methods than the countries of Europe or
America. This literature therefore, has examined the leading trends of suicide methods in the
Asian countries. In addition to this, the paper has also discussed their age as well as sex
specific features which have implications for the suicide prevention. According to the
authors, the suicide methods if the Asians reflect their particular economic, socio-cultural and
religious conditions in that region. Among the most frequent t methods that the people of this
regions prefer are charcoal burning, native plant poisoning, pesticide poisoning, self-
immolation finally jumping from high rise buildings (Fitzpatrick & Hooker, 2017). With the
introduction of technologies, the methods of suicide have recorded more changes. This is the
reason why the scholars have strategized to increase information in the societies so that the
communities of these regions can monitor as well as control the innovative methods of
suicide among the younger generations. These will also spread knowledge so that the
practices of suicide technologies can be prevented.

3SUICIDE AND ITS PREVENTION
Nordentoft (2011) have detailed an effective process of preventing suicide through the
USI model. The author has analysed the preventive model of universal, selected and indicated
inhibition which have different application for different groups or individuals. The universal
prevention intervention is mainly directed to entire population (Caine et al., 2018). On the
contrary, the selective preventive intervention is directed towards the individuals. This sis
because these people are at greater risk t o have a more effective suicidal behavior. The
indicated prevention intervention is targeted at the individuals or the victims who already
have begun the self-destructive behavior. The author has mainly focused on the psychological
treatment of the attempters so that the risk of second or third attempt do not take place. The
author has focused on the method of restriction to firearms and exposure to carbon monoxide
gas on the universal prevention levels. In order to apply prevention in the selective level, the
author have found out the method of mitigating the risk for suicide in the homeless people
and schizophrenic patients (Wexler, & Gone, 2015). To the indicated level of prevention,
proper studies of fatal as well as non-fatal suicide laws after suicide attempts have been
mentioned. Finally, the author has presented the evidence and efficiency of the preventive
measures for reducing attempt repetition rates.
To Fogarty et al. (2018), the attempt to create awareness about suicide and the
methods of prevention has limited effect on the men than the worm of the same age or
cultural background. This literature has analyzed the effect of suicide attempt prevention on
the people with a grand and dependable way so that the readers get perfect evidence that how
much the efforts of preventing suicide attempt or the strategies work on people. The author
gas conducted a secondary qualitative interview with 35 suicide attempters with 42 families
along with friends so that the effect can be explored more intensely. By using thematic
analysis techniques, alongside bracketing, construction and contextualization the author has
pointed out that there are five tensions in the perspectives of the attempters of suicide and

4SUICIDE AND ITS PREVENTION
their support networks. These five tensions have effectively complicated the methods which
are extensively used to strategize the suicide attempts or managing the risks. These tensions
are first, respecting privacy and monitoring risk, second differentiating normal and risky
behavioral changes, thirdly familiarity and anonymity in the personal information revelation,
fourthly maintaining autonomy and imposing restraints for limiting risks and finally the
perceived needs and failures of the external supportive services. At the end of this study, the
author has concluded that the tension among these different perspectives have increased a
systemic stress which have compounded problems as well as risks, thereby decreased the
efficiency of detection as well as interventions for the men at the risk of committing suicide
(Swanson, Bonnie & Appelbaum, 2015).
Conclusion
Therefore, it can be concluded that the topic of suicide has gained concern of the
scholars of different culture, nations and backgrounds. This is the reason why there are ample
research on this particular subject and most of the are focused in the exploring of methods of
preventing these attempts. Moreover, the literatures have discussed the reasons of this
psychological crisis as well as the situations of different victims towards this negative aspect
of life. Most of these literatures focus on the improving psychological conditions of these
attempters so that the second attempt do not happen. Hence the method of risk
communication with the trained healthcare experts have been referred. This will reduce
reliance on single source support and increase intervention of flexibility in responding the
individual needs.

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References
Caine, E. D., Reed, J., Hindman, J., & Quinlan, K. (2018). Comprehensive, integrated
approaches to suicide prevention: practical guidance. Injury prevention, 24(Suppl 1),
i38-i45.
Fitzpatrick, S. J., & Hooker, C. (2017). A ‘systems’ approach to suicide prevention: radical
change or doing the same things better?.
Florentine, J. B., & Crane, C. (2010). Suicide prevention by limiting access to methods: A
review of theory and practice. Social Science & Medicine, 70(10), 1626-1632.
doi:10.1016/j.socscimed.2010.01.029
Fogarty, A. S., Spurrier, M., Player, M. J., Wilhelm, K., Whittle, E. L., Shand, F., . . .
Proudfoot, J. (2018). Tensions in perspectives on suicide prevention between men
who have attempted suicide and their support networks: Secondary analysis of
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Haring, C. (2011). JS02-03 - suicidology and suicide prevention. European Psychiatry, 26,
2001-2001. doi:10.1016/S0924-9338(11)73704-X
Mian, A., & Sufi, A. (2015). House of debt: How they (and you) caused the Great Recession,
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Nordentoft, M. (2011). Crucial elements in suicide prevention strategies. Progress in
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O'Connell, K. L. (2012). Child and adolescent suicide. Journal of Child and Adolescent
Psychiatric Nursing, 25(3), 111-112. doi:10.1111/j.1744-6171.2012.00333.x

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Swanson, J. W., Bonnie, R. J., & Appelbaum, P. S. (2015). Getting serious about reducing
suicide: more “how” and less “why”. Jama, 314(21), 2229-2230.
Wexler, L. M., & Gone, J. P. (2015). Exploring Possibilities for Indigenous Suicide
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