Suicide Warning Signs

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SUICIDAL

Too often, friends of suicide victims tell you they never suspected their departed friend would have done it. We all need to be vigilant about the possibility of suicide. The following are possible signs of suicidal intentions….

Emotional

• Anxiety and body tension
• Fear of losing control and not wanting to be alone
• Feeling of being separate from others
• Feelings of guilt
• Repeating thoughts
• Seeing no meaning in life
• Lack of motivation
• Using alcohol to cope
• Difficulty concentrating
• Flashes of themselves taking their own life and funeral fantasies
• Lack of interest in anything new, no interest in current life.
• Insomnia or over sleeping
• Poor self-esteem – believing they are not worthy of love.
• Fear of losing love

 

Behavioral Signs

• Isolation from family and friends
• Loss of interest in career or study
• Taking up or changing patterns of substance use
• Sudden mood changes
• Apathy about appearance and hygiene or extreme fastidiousness
• Making plans to depart such as giving away important possessions and saying implicit good byes
• Sudden mood changes
• Changes in eating patterns (overeating or loss of appetite)
• Sudden calm after anxious state
• Risk taking behaviours
• Low energy and lack of motivation
• Physical withdrawal from touch