#SuicideGuidelines #CauseAChatter

 

September is celebrated as #SuicideAwareness month and #SuicidePrevention Month world over. September 10th has been designated as World Suicide Prevention Day and yet the lack of awareness about language and sensitivity related to suicides is appalling in India.
The commonest word we still use "commit" which indicated suicide is a crime just like theft or murder. The appropriate and sensitive tern to use is "died by suicide" or death by suicide.
Several agencies have time and again issued guidelines.
Some crucial points to remember are 
1. Don’t promote suicide stories by placing them in the front pages of the newspaper or as a lead item for broadcast media.
2. Don’t give details about the method or location of any suicide death or attempt.
3. Suicide notes, text messages, social media posts, and emails of the deceased person and/ or their family members should not be published.
4. Don’t speculate. Verify your facts from multiple sources when the reasons for a suicide death or attempt are not immediately clear.
5. Don’t reveal personal details about family members, the deceased person, or any person who has attempted suicide without their informed consent.
6. Don’t write of suicide deaths/attempts as horrific, unfortunate events. Open up your story by focusing on the celebrity’s life and their contribution to society.
7. Suicide is a largely preventable public health problem. There are several counselling services and helplines working across the country for this cause. Include these resources in your story/report.

In India if you or someone else is at risk of suicide or having mental distress please call 1800 599 0019

This post is part of #CauseAChatter at Blogchatter.

Loneliness: The Other Epidemic (Mental Health)

You're busy: You work from home, you exercise, you manage your household chores and you now meet friends over video calls. Life seems all sorted, you seem to have learned the "newnormal" well, but is it so?


More and more people are experiencing the dark looming shadow of loneliness.


People who are lonely are up to 32% more likely to die early than their more connected peers, research shows.


Do you know loneliness ranks high up there with dangerous health outcomes of smoking, obesity, and physical inactivity in terms of its long-term effects on your health?


Under normal circumstances, loneliness would be something we have some degree of control over, but the COVID-19 pandemic is making us feel as if we have little control over our lives and our feelings of isolation.


Previous research into this area has shown that strong social ties may protect people from emotional distress, cognitive decline, and physical disability, while loneliness and social isolation can cause harm to physical and psychological wellbeing. Both loneliness and social isolation have been strongly associated with poorer quality of life and other measures of well-being.


In a survey of 20,000 Americans, nearly half reported always or sometimes feeling lonely or left out. Young adults ages 18 to 22 are the loneliest generation of all, the survey found. It could be as simple as having people around who encourage you to make healthy choices, such as keeping doctor's appointments, eating right, and taking medications. Or, chronic loneliness could be a recipe for chronic stress, which in turn wreaks havoc on your health.


The late Dr. John Cacioppo, a psychology professor at the University of Chicago, studied the effects of loneliness for two decades before his passing in 2018. He equated loneliness with a type of hunger, noting that establishing social connections is essential for human survival. He also believed that chronic loneliness can increase the incidence of early death.


Seek out if you are lonely.
Try to reduce someone's loneliness.

This post is a part of Blogchatter #CauseAChatter Campaign.

Empathetic Active Listening (Mental Health)

Communication consists of verbal (words and their meanings) and - nonverbal parts. 

Words play a much smaller role than we think. Personal example plays a much more important role. (Words are generally considered to form about 7 to 10% of communication, voice (tone, loudness) 30 to 38% and the greatest deal, 55 to 60%, is body language (nonverbal communication) = what we do and what we are.)

Levels of Active Listening 

1) Ignoring 

2) Pretending

3) Listening Selectively 

4) Listening Carefully

5) Listening Empathically 

Empathic listening is the highest form of listening. We empathize with the feelings and thoughts of the other party by which we create a positive psychological climate. If we've created such a climate contrasts between words and feelings disappear; people express themselves openly and honestly. 

Steps to Empathy How to learn it? 

Step by step: 

1) Listen carefully and time to time use the other party's words to repeat what has been said. 

2) Express what has been said by your own words giving feedback on how you've understood. 

3) Try to reflect the partner's feelings (what you think the heard has evoked in him or her). 4) Occasionally make a summary of the essence of what has been said. Also express feelings, which it has evoked, and importance for the partner.

This post is a part of Blogchatter #CauseAChatter Campaign.